Poland, a fervent supporter of the embargo imposed on Russian oil after the invasion of Ukraine, continues to obtain from Russia about 10% of its oil needs, a state secretary admitted on Thursday, reports AFP.

Given that the European embargo in force only targets maritime imports of Russian oil, one of the main sources of income for the Russian state, Poland boasted last year that it had a “radical plan” aimed at renouncing Russian oil imports from the end of 2022.

Answering a question posed by an opposition MP, Maciej Malecki, State Secretary in the Polish Ministry of State Assets, admitted that in accordance with an existing contract concluded by the Polish oil group Orlen with the Russian oil company Tatneft, a contract that will expires at the end of 2024, “approximately 10% of the Orlen group’s oil needs”, i.e. 200,000 tons of oil per month, comes from Russia, according to Agerpres.

Maciej Malecki stated, however, that the Orlen group, in which the Polish state is the majority shareholder, “firmly stated that it will stop buying Russian oil as soon as an embargo is introduced at the EU level”, evoking the risk of paying compensation in the event in which it would break a contract in force.

In recent years, Poland has diversified its natural gas and oil supply sources and, according to Maciej Malecki, the contract that Orlen has with Tatneft is the only one that is still in force today.