Poland has made clear it will not issue any temporary permits for Russian pipeline gas imports, effectively blocking deliveries that would otherwise be allowed under new EU rules. The decision follows the entry into force of stricter European regulations that ban short-term Russian gas supply contracts.
Since 17 June, EU law has prohibited Russian pipeline gas from entering the European market under short-term agreements signed before 17 June 2025. The measure is part of the REPowerEU regulation, which sets a binding timetable for eliminating both piped Russian gas and Russian LNG from the bloc’s energy system.
Warsaw’s position is straightforward: because Poland has no contracts for Russian natural gas, no temporary exemptions will be granted. The EU allows such derogations only in limited cases, and only for deals concluded before the cut-off date.
EU’s next steps against Russian energy
The new restrictions are another stage in a long-term EU strategy. In a social media post, EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said: „We are consistently eliminating the remaining sources of Russian gas from our energy system. Our goal is to completely end imports.”
Under REPowerEU, imports of natural gas produced in Russia can now only enter the EU on the basis of temporary authorisations tied to pre-June 2025 contracts. The regulation also introduces a requirement for prior approval of natural gas imports from non-EU countries, with some deliveries exempt from that obligation.
The next major deadline arrives on 1 January 2027, when long-term contracts for Russian LNG imports will be banned. Longer-term agreements covering Russian pipeline gas must be wound down no later than 30 September 2027.
Possible delay and market outlook
In exceptional circumstances, the pipeline gas deadline can be pushed back to 1 November, but only if a member state runs into problems filling storage ahead of the heating season. The potential extension is not relevant for Poland, which has no Russian gas contracts.
The International Energy Agency has assessed that Russia is unlikely to regain the global gas market leadership it held before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The new EU measures reinforce that trajectory by removing remaining legal routes for Russian gas deliveries into Europe.
Źródło: WNP.PL, Fot. Shutterstock/Juraj Kral
