Last month Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) ordered Gazprom to pay over PLN 29 billion (some EUR 6.5 billion, USD 7.6 billion) and imposed a penalty of over PLN 234 million (around EUR 52 million, USD 61 million) on five other companies taking part in the construction of the gas pipeline "without the required consent."
Warsaw has strongly criticised Nord Stream 2 amid concerns that the pipeline from Russia to Germany under the Baltic sea will make the European Union more dependent on Russian gas.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has called Nord Stream 2 “a new hybrid weapon” aimed at the European Union and NATO.
Russia's Gazprom this summer returned around USD 1.5 billion that Poland’s state-run gas company PGNiG overpaid for deliveries, following a ruling by an international arbitration court, according to officials.
(jh/pk)
Source: Reuters/PAP