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The panel discussion, led by Marek Woszczyk, President of the Polish Energy Regulatory Office (URE), included the following speakers: Grażyna Piotrowska-Oliwa, President of the Management Board of PGNiG, Małgorzata Szymańska, Head of the Oil and Gas Department at the Ministry of Economy, Wojciech Kowalski, member of the Management Board of Gaz-System, Grzegorz Onichimowski, President of the Polish Power Exchange, Marek Kulesa, Director of the Polish Association of Energy Trading, Daria Kulczycka, Head of the Energy and Climate Change Department at the Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan, Jerzy Majchrzak, Director of the Polish Chamber of Chemical Industry, and Andrzej Janiszowski, Head of the Regulation Department at PGNiG.

All the panellists pointed to the need to deregulate the gas market in Poland.  According to declarations made by Marek Woszczyk, President of URE, and Grażyna Piotrowska-Oliwa, President of PGNiG, the process may start by the end of this year. 

The draft Gas Release Programme was prepared by PGNiG based on the President of URE's Recommendations for Gas Deregulation in Poland dated November 15th 2011, as well as the Natural Gas Prices Deregulation Roadmap dated December 22nd 2011. In February 2012, GRP was released for public consultations, which lasted until March 13th 2012.

The public consultations involved 36 entities, whose feedback concerned practically all aspects of the proposed market deregulation process.  Some of it was not related directly to GRP, but to matters falling outside the scope of PGNiG's responsibility.  It has already been passed on to be considered as part of the Transmission Grid Code consultations arranged by OGP Gaz-System.

Based on the feedback received, 10 areas were identified where the existing GRP proposal might be revised: 

• I. Change of the volume of gas to be released within the GRP framework
• II. Timing of GRP auctions
• III. Product flexibility (duration of contracts, supply profiles, take-or-pay)
• IV. Change of the minimum gas tranche size
• V. Abandonment of price indexation
• VI. Change of the mechanism of volume allocation through the auction process
• VII. Determination of the method of unsold volume allocation
• VIII. Introduction of limits on gas volumes available through GRP auctions to a single entity/group of entities
• IX. Change of the Regulatory Agreement concept
• X. Ban on exporting gas fuel purchased through GRP auctions

Also the European Commission submitted its comments on the draft GRP proposal and the Polish gas market deregulation concept, as set out in the Roadmap.  Its main suggestion was to create conditions for long-term activity of new entrants to the natural gas trading market which are not end consumers.  In the Commission's view, it is requisite to abolish the statutory requirement to seek approval of tariffs for institutional customers and to set down the precise date when government controls for the other customer groups will be removed.

Workshop participants stressed the importance of continuing the work on the deregulation concept for the Polish gas market. 

Press Team of PGNiG SA