Polish energy concern PGNiG says it`s won a European Court of Justice stay on high-volume gas deliveries by Russia`s Gazprom through the pipeline ”OPAL.” The conduit forwards supplies to the Czech Republic and Germany, according to Deutsche Welle.
A European Commission decision in October to enlarge a previous 50-percent cap of Gazprom deliveries through the pipeline had been ”suspended” by the Luxembourg-based court, PGNiG claimed Tuesday, DW reported.
The court itself did not issue a matching statement. PGNiG, 72-percent-owned by the Polish state, said the suspension ruling was issued on December 23, just before Christmas, requiring the commission to explain its decision in detail in response to Poland`s complaint.
OPAL (in German the Ostsee-Pipeline-Anbindungsleitung), completed in 2011, draws natural gas off the main ”Nord Stream 1” pipeline lying on the Baltic seabed from Russia to Germany.
From Greifswald on Germany`s Baltic Sea coast, OPAL extends south 470 kilometers (290 miles) through eastern Germany to the Czech Republic.
The Nord Stream-Opal linkage skirts Baltic nations such as Lithuania and Poland.
