Poland approves draft legislation banning Russian coal imports

The Polish government approved draft legislation March 29 that would ban the import of Russian coal after failing to convince EU partners to follow suit, government spokesperson Piotr Muller said.

The government decided to act unilaterally and introduce a law banning the import of Russian coal to Poland, which could break EU rules on international trade, Muller said.

"We have introduced regulations at the national level that block the import of coal from Russia. This will be entered directly into law. We are aware that this may raise legal doubts, unfortunately justified doubts, but we cannot wait any longer for the EU reaction in this regard," Muller told a news conference following the government's weekly meeting.

The government was aware that enacting legislation to ban the purchase of Russian coal could be challenged legally at the EU Court of Justice, he said.

It would soon update its energy policy to 2040 to reflect its plans to diversify away from Russian oil, gas and coal, he said.

In a subsequent statement, the government said it aimed to generate about half of its electricity from renewable sources by 2040, up from 40% in the original document.

It said gas would remain important for balancing the power system but it would review its gas investments, including its strategy of converting coal-fired heating and CHP plants to gas.

Meanwhile, the use of coal-fired plant may increase in the medium term, it said.

Poland is the EU's largest hard coal producer but its mines do not produce enough of the larger-lumped coal used in homes, schools and hospitals. Some heating plants also burn Russian coal.

In 2020, Polish private importers bought three-quarters of the country's 12.8 million tonnes of coal imports from Russia.

"We would like to prevent this. Financial penalties will be imposed for breaking this type of regulation," Muller said.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he had held talks with his Australian counterpart about buying coal from Australia.

The ministry of climate and environment, which wrote the draft legislation, is due to provide details of the coal import ban on March 30.