December 02, 2008

Poland and Ukraine back oil pipeline from Azerbaijan

Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Mr Lech Kaczynskipresident of Polish President and his Ukrainian counterpart Mr Viktor Yuschenko as saying following their meeting in Warsaw that Poland and Ukraine want to press ahead with their oil pipeline project from Azerbaijan in an effort to lessen their dependency on Russian energy supplies.

The report said both heads of states signed an accord for the construction of an oil pipeline from the Polish-Ukrainian border to the Baltic Sea port of Gdansk. Georgia and Lithuania are also involved in the project

As part of the pipeline project, oil from Azerbaijan is to be transported via Georgia to the Black Sea where it is to be shipped to the Ukrainian port city of Odessa.

Warsaw hopes that the Odessa-Brody-Gdansk oil pipeline which would transport Caspian oil west to Poland and Europe could be operational in 2011 despite lingering logistical problems. The 673 kilometer long Odessa-Brody pipeline was completed in 2002.

The main strategic importance of the Odessa-Gdansk pipeline is as revenue producer since charging transit fees can also help spur development in the economically-depressed post-Soviet states. The completed pipeline would supply PKN Orlen, Central Europe's leading fuels refiner and distributor, with Caspian crude oil.