PKN Orlen has terminated its contract with Russia’s Tatneft without paying any penalties, the Polish company’s chief executive said on Tuesday, after Moscow halted supplies of oil to Poland.

Supplies via the Druzhba pipeline were stopped in February, just a day after Poland delivered its first Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

Poland had pledged to stop using Russian oil by the end of 2022, the same time as PKN’s long-term contract with Rosneft expired. The agreement with Tatneft was due to end in 2024.

“These contracts no longer exist. The one with Rosneft expired in January, we did not renew it,” Daniel Obajtek told private broadcaster Polsat News.

“The second contract with Tatneft ... when the oil stopped flowing, we had an argument to terminate the contract. On this basis, we terminated this contract without penalties.”

Obajtek said the contract was terminated “a few days ago”.

Following the invasion of Ukraine and before the European Union embargoed seaborne supplies from Russia, PKN stopped buying Russian oil and fuels transported by sea.

It said its supply portfolio now included oil from Western Africa, the Mediterranean, the Gulf and the Gulf of Mexico. It also has a supply contract with Saudi Aramco as of 2022.

Reuters