Poland may prohibit coal imports from Russia

Poland began to study the possibility of banning imports of Russian coal, supplanting local manufacturers and occupies already 40% in the country's market, Kommersant reports citing the country's Foreign Minister. The ban can hit individual companies actively working with this country, although the reality of sanctions is still in question due to possible restrictions within the WTO.

The head of the Polish Foreign Ministry, Radoslav Sikorsky, said about coal sanctions: "We are seriously thinking about it ... I can’t tell anything else." Poland is the largest coal manufacturer in the EU, but at the same time imports fuel. According to the Eurostat, the country in January-April increased purchases from Russia by a third, to 2.5 million tons of coal. Russian coal is slightly cheaper than Polish.

After Russia limited the import of food from the EU, the opposition party "Law and Justice" (PIS) insisted on the embargo. According to the deputy of the Sejm from PIS, Andrzej Yavorsky, the party sends the Parliamentary request to Prime Minister Donald Tuska, demanding an explanation of why the country does not enter the embargo. The party believes that this measure will help to support the Polish miners. “We heard about the problems of Polish mines, we heard that Donald Tusk is negotiating with the miners, but we did not hear that Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Yanush Pokhochinsky introduce an embargo to Russian,” Yavorsky points out.

In most coal manufacturers, as well as in the Ministry of Energy, the "Kommersant" indicates from discussing the consequences of the embargo to its announcement.

Both Russia and Poland are part of the WTO. Organization norms limit the possibility of using commodity embargoes. However, this does not interfere with the introduction of restrictions: to date, as a result of the imposition of sanctions by both the West and Russia, an unprecedented number of cases have accumulated that may become a reason for claims in the WTO.