The project, valued at PLN 20 billion (EUR 4.7 billion, USD 5.5 billion), calls for building 300 kilometres of pipelines from the German border to a fuel base near the north-central Polish city of Bydgoszcz.
The depot is operated by Poland’s state-owned pipeline operator PERN. It also includes new fuel storage facilities for NATO forces, state news agency PAP reported.
The deal was signed in Warsaw between PERN and the NATO Security Investment Programme Management Office Poland, officials said.
"This is a great day for Poland, in fact a historic milestone,” Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk said at the signing ceremony.
He told reporters that talks on linking Poland to the NATO system began in 2014, after Russia’s annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula.
"We have fought for this project for 11 years," he said.
Tomczyk described the pipeline link as a strategic investment project, comparable to acquiring a unique military capability.
"On the battlefield, as the military says, three things matter most: equipment, ammunition and fuel," he said, adding that continuous fuel supplies are essential to keep military hardware running.
Deputy Energy Minister Wojciech Wrochna, the government's pointman on strategic energy infrastructure, said the project strengthens both military and energy security.
"Both give citizens independence from what may happen in the future,” he said.
He added that dual-use pipelines could also support civilian needs such as airport fuel supplies.
PERN CEO Daniel Świętochowski said Poland’s fuel system is currently “closed and isolated,” and integration with NATO pipelines would bring “huge logistical capabilities in the event of a threat.”
The defence ministry said the agreement sets the framework for cooperation in the project’s initial phase.
Officials said the new infrastructure would boost Poland’s resilience to fuel crises and strengthen its role as a strategic NATO partner in the region, while improving mobility and operational efficiency for allied forces.
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Source: IAR, PAP