Mateusz Morawiecki made the declaration at a briefing in the northern port of Gdańsk on Saturday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Earlier, the PM chaired a meeting of the government’s Coal Task Force to discuss the distribution of imported coal that is arriving in Polish ports from around the world, officials said.
‘Poland imports coal from 17 countries’: PM
Morawiecki told reporters: “We are bringing in coal from across the world,” adding: “this coal is triple-checked for quality.”
He said the coal was being imported from a total of 17 countries from around the globe.
The PM stressed that Poland had faced “an unprecedented challenge” of replacing Russian coal, after banning Russian imports in response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
He told reporters: “The logistics of importing certified coal has been created in the space of a few months after the outbreak of the war.”
3 million tonnes of coal in Polish ports, ready to be distributed
Morawiecki announced: “In the past week alone, 169 trains and 2,700 articulated lorries filled with coal have left Polish ports to deliver the resource to local governments th power stations and heat-and-power plant throughout Poland.”
He added that around a million tonnes of coal was ready to be distributed from the port of Gdańsk and more than two million tonnes from other Polish ports.
At the moment, imported coal is arriving in the Polish ports every day, and some 0.5 million tonnes of the resource is distributed across the country every week, officials also told reporters.
‘Over 1,000 municipalities joined the government’s coal-distribution scheme’: PM
Meanwhile, the PM thanked local authorities for joining the government’s coal-distribution scheme.
Under a bill currently going through parliament, households will be able to buy coal from local governments for no more than PLN 2,000 (EUR 420) per tonne, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Meanwhile, local governments will be able to purchase coal from producers and wholesalers for no more than PLN 1,500 (EUR 312) per tonne, according to officials.
Morawiecki told reporters on Saturday: “More than 2,000 municipalities have agreed to buy coal from our importers and distribute it to households.”
Saturday is day 241 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Source: PAP, dziennik.pl