Anna Moskwa, the Minister of Climate and Environment in an interview for the Rzeczpospolita daily said “The rule is simple, if we buy gas from Russia, we have to pay for it. The same mechanism applies to the charges for CO2 emissions. We emit, we have to pay for it. We want to base our proposal on a mechanism already known in the European Union.”

Minister Moskwa suggests that this is a good time to start a discussion on this matter, especially in a situation “when we agreed to the embargo on coal and oil from Russia. There is no gas in this puzzle. In order to move away from this fuel faster, we believe that our idea based on the taxation of imports of “blue fuel” may speed up this process”, said Anna Moskwa.

The head of the climate ministry emphasized that during the last meeting of the Council of the European Union, the European Commission showed interest and willingness to learn the details of the proposal.

“We will work on the project in May, the funds from fees for the purchase of Russian hydrocarbons could finance investments under the new EU energy stimulus package or support Ukraine in rebuilding its energy sector”, added Moskwa.

Adrian Andrzejewski