Ukraine and Poland to Revive Odesa-Brody Pipeline

KIEV, Ukraine, December 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov and the Marshal of the Polish Senate Bogdan Borusevich discussed the plans of the two countries to revive the use of the Odesa-Brody pipeline. The high officials also mentioned a possibility of constructing a new leg of the pipeline. Presumably, it will stretch all the way to the Northern Polish city of Gdansk, and thus will make one step forward towards the establishment of a new route to transport the Caspian oil to the EU countries.

During his meeting with Mykola Azarov, Bogdan Borusevich stated that he considers the stretching of the Odesa-Brody pipeline to Gdansk, Poland, being prospective. Borusevich mentioned that realization of the project will become ever more relevant for Poland now that oil transfers through Druzhba pipeline might get reduced. Druzhba is the world's largest pipeline system carrying oil from European Russia through Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Germany. Marshal also pointed out that Polish investors have purchased oil refinery in Lithuania. In this respect there is a possibility to build a branch of the Odesa-Brody pipeline to the refinery.

"The Ukrainian side has already built its part of the pipeline, but Poland, unfortunately, has not," Borusevich added. "I was pleased to hear that Azarov's government is interested in the Polish-Ukrainian cooperation on this and other projects in the field of energy security."

On November 23, 2010, the Ukrtransnafta company completed the testing of the Odesa-Brody pipeline in the direction of Druzhba's southern branch. In 2009, a Polish pipeline company Sarmatia made a prediction that the construction of the conduct pipe in question would reach Plotsk and Gdansk before 2012.

The Odesa-Brody pipeline is a crude oil pipeline between the Ukrainian cities of Odesa on the Black Sea, and Brody near the Ukrainian-Polish border. The usage and the direction of the Odesa-Brody pipeline is viewed to be of considerable geopolitical significance, since it provides a new route to diversify oil supplies to the EU. The pipeline was originally intended to reach Gdansk in order to transfer oil from the Caspian Sea (mainly from Kazakhstan) to the Polish Baltic Sea port and from there to the rest of Europe.

SOURCE Worldwide News Ukraine