Polish PM blames Russia's Gazprom, EU emission prices for energy crisis

Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister, has blamed the record-high energy prices in the EU on Europe's excessive dependence on the gas supplied by Gazprom and speculation on the market of the EU's CO2 allowances.

Morawiecki was speaking after a two-day EU summit in Brussels, where the current turmoil on the energy markets was one of the key topics on the agenda.

The Polish prime minister outlined what he believed to be the two origins of the crisis.

"The first source is the gas market's overdependence on Gazprom," he said, "I have warned against it on numerous occasions, so the satisfaction I draw from it now has a bitter taste."

"Unfortunately, it is a fact that Russia and President (Vladimir) Putin use this fuel to dictate prices," Morawiecki said.

"The second reason is speculation on the market of the EU's CO2 allowances, the so-called ETS market," the prime minister went on to say.

"This speculation triggered a rapid increase in the prices of emission allowances over the past 12-18 months," he added.

High energy prices have undermined the competitiveness of industry in a number of European countries, and negatively affected their ability to sell their products on global markets, he claimed.

"It is a very serious problem, because it will translate into disappearing jobs in Europe in the coming months," Morawiecki minister warned.