It said a final decision was likely to be taken later in the day.
With deliveries of Russian oil, which make up almost 100 percent of PCK Schwedt’s supply, set to officially cease at the end of the year, the German government is seeking alternative sources of crude, according to news outlets.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview with public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk: “We cannot rely on energy commodities from Russia anymore. We are taking the necessary decisions to become independent of Russian imports in the long term,” as quoted by biznesalert.pl.
The German government’s commissioner for PCK Schwedt, Michael Kellner, told the Polish website that the refinery would now import oil via the Polish terminal in the northern city Gdańsk as well as buying crude from Kazakhstan, among other sources.
“The European Council’s meeting in Brussels on December 15 will give us clarity as to what quantities of oil will be involved,” Kellner said, as quoted by biznesalert.pl.
PCK Schwedt Photo: Wikimedia Commons
PKN Orlen to acquire shares in PCK Schwedt?
Meanwhile, the German Ministry of Economy and Climate Protection was expected to hold talks on Thursday with the shareholders of PCK Schwedt, which is 54.2 percent-owned by Rosneft Deutschland, a German subsidiary of the Russian oil giant Rosneft.
Other shareholders are Shell (37.5 percent) and Italy’s Eni (8.3 percent), with both companies willing to sell their stake, according to Poland’s wnp.pl website.
The Polish government is expected to propose that PKN Orlen become a minority shareholder in PCK Schedt in exchange for deliveries of oil through the Gdańsk terminal, the website reported, citing Germany’s Märkische Oderzeitung newspaper.
Kellner and Germany's Brandenburg State Economy Minister Jörg Steinbach have both backed the plan, according to biznesalert.pl.
A decision can be taken as soon as Thursday, the website reported, quoting Märkische Oderzeitung.
However, Poland is demanding that PCK Schwedt be "de-Russified," biznesalert.pl reported.
The German Ministry of Economy and Climate Protection announced in September it had temporarily taken over Rosneft’s German subsidiaries, but Rosneft is still drawing profits from PCK Schwedt; moreover, the measure is temporary and therefore insufficient, according to the Polish government, biznesalert.pl reported.
Poland’s Ministry of Climate and Environment and Germany’s Ministry of Economy and Climate Protection remain in talks to thrash out solutions to the challenges of renouncing Russian energy imports, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, officials said.
Thursday is day 288 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: biznesalert.pl, wnp.pl