WARSAW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd December, 2020) The Polish operator of the Druzhba oil pipeline, PERN, does not rule out a recourse to the court to settle compensation issue over the supply of contaminated oil from Russia, PERN head Igor Wasilewski told the Biznes Alert news portal on Wednesday.
According to the operator's head, though the company is currently in talks with Russian suppliers, differences in their positions on the compensation are too large to settle the dispute amicably. Wasilewski also noted that the talks can last for several years.
"If the differences are large enough and no agreement is reached, then we consider all available legal possibilities in this case," Wasilewski said when asked about the possibility of taking legal action.
The delivery of Russian oil to Eastern Europe via the Druzhba pipeline was temporarily halted in late April 2019 after it was discovered that the fuel was contaminated with organic chlorides. A month later, the transfer of oil was resumed in Belarus, Ukraine, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary. Poland partially resumed pumping on June 10, and oil deliveries were restored in full on July 1.
Russian energy company Transneft is set to compensate for the damage due to oil pollution, however, it asked foreign companies receiving Russian oil to send their claims on the quality of raw materials to shippers, namely, Russian oil companies, with which they have contracts. Those Russian companies are expected to forward their claims to Transneft, which has reserved 23 billion rubles ($303 million) for compensations associated with oil contamination.
