Polish President Andrzej Duda travelled to Lithuania on May 5, where he will take part in the ceremonial opening of the Poland-Lithuania gas interconnector. “This is a symbolic response of both countries to Russian gas blackmail”, commented the head of the presidential International Policy Bureau, Jakub Kumoch.

According to the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, in Jauniūnai, the Presidents of Poland Andrzej Duda and Lithuanian Gitanas Nausėda, together with the President of Latvia Egils Levits and the EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson, will take part in the ceremonial opening of the Poland-Lithuania gas interconnector.

Moreover, the ministers for the energy of the Baltic states and Poland as well as the heads of the gas transmission system operators implementing the project, Lithuanian Amber Grid and Polish Gaz-System, were also invited to the ceremony.

“This is a symbolic response of Poland and Lithuania to Russian gas blackmail. Both countries have warned Europe for years against becoming dependent on Russian raw materials, both are among Ukraine’s greatest friends in the EU and NATO”, emphasizes Jakub Kumoch.

The pipeline is 508 km long. On the Polish side, it is 343 km long and runs through the: Mazowieckie, Podlaskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodeships. On the Lithuanian side, it is approx. 165 km long and ends at the Jauniūnai gas compressor station.

From May 1 to September 30, the technical capacity of the gas connection towards Lithuania will amount to 2 billion cubic meters per year, and towards Poland – approximately 1.9 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Ultimately, the gas pipeline will have a transmission capacity of approximately 2.5 billion cubic meters towards Lithuania and 2 billion towards Poland.

The project aims to eliminate the so-called energy islands, i.e. regions not yet integrated with the EU energy market, such as Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland.

During his visit to Lithuania, President Andrzej Duda will also visit Vilnius, where he will meet the President of Lithuania, and will also lay flowers at the Rasos Cemetery: at the Mausoleum of the Mother and the Heart of the Son and in the January Insurgents’ Chapel.

Adrian Andrzejewski