After Russian coal ban, Poland faces substantial deficit

Poland will have to compensate for a shortfall of up 8 million tonnes of hard coal after the country decided to ban Russian coal owing to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Jacek Sasin, the state assets minister, has said.

To make up for the difference, Poland will increase domestic coal extraction and import the commodity from other countries, Sasin told the public television TVP Info on Sunday.

Sasin, who is also a deputy prime minister, said 2049 was still valid as the final date of terminating coal extraction in Poland, but the phasing out curve will be different from original plans as "for the time being we have to keep coal extraction at an increased level."

Sasin also said previous ideas to replace coal with gas are now "outdated" due to surging gas prices.

"We can't rely on a fuel whose prices are growing so much," he said.

According to Sasin, Poland will have to prolong the operation of some coal mines until the country can generate enough nuclear and renewable energy.

Commenting on the coal ban, Sasin said that in formal terms only the EU as a whole can introduce such restrictions, but Poland had decided to make the move "to set an example."