Despite the embargo: Poland imports Russian coal by sea

Photo: Krzysztof Brayza published a video of one of the vessels suspected of transporting sanctioned coal from the Russian Federation.

A large-scale illegal scheme of importing coal of Russian origin was discovered in Poland.

During the last year, about 1.5 million tons of coal were transported to Poland from Russian ports, despite the embargo imposed by the EU.

Krzysztof Brayza, a senator from the opposition party “Civil Coalition”, stated this on the X social network.

“More than a million tons of coal from Russian ports recently arrived in Poland. Transportation on small vessels (so as not to catch the eye) from the Leningrad region is carried out by Russian sailors. Today I will provide documents and records that support this practice,” he wrote.

Brayza said that on Monday, September 25, the ship Roseburg was discovered in Szczecin after midnight. According to the senator, the ship’s captain and crew are Russians. The ship delivered coal from the Vyborg port (Russian Federation).

Reference: Roseburg is a bulk carrier under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, built in 1991. Deadweight — 3005 tons. The owner of the ship is the Latvian Roseburg Shipping Ltd, the manager is Pegasus Shipmanagement SIA (also Latvia).

Source: MarineTraffic.

Also at the briefing, Brayza clarified that over the past year, 1.5 million tons of coal were transported from the ports of St. Petersburg and Vyborg to Poland. The cargo was transported in small batches of 2,000 tons, Ukrinform reports.

According to the senator, he and his aides have been studying this situation for several weeks. The opposition claims that Russian sailors transport coal from Russia to the ports of Szczecin, Gdańsk, Gdynia and Świnoujście, but on dry cargoes under the flags of Malta, Cyprus or Antigua and Barbuda.

Breyza provided evidence of the arrival of ships from the Russian Federation to Polish ports and the admission of Russian sailors to them. It has not yet been possible to establish the recipients of the cargo. Coal from ships is immediately loaded into wagons, and then transported inland.

In the department of the Customs Service of the Republic of Poland in Szczecin, the senator was assured that the fuel is imported under a “simplified procedure” and there is no way to check “whose coal it is.”

Brayza said that he expects a decisive reaction from Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and the leader of the PiS party, Jaroslaw Kaczyński.

“This is an unprecedented case that harms the security and national interests of Poland. On the one hand, Vladimir Putin’s Russian ports and infrastructure are financed, and then this money goes to the bombs and ammunition that destroy Ukraine. On the other hand – Russian special services. We will not hide the fact that Russian sailors are connected to Russian services. They have free access to the infrastructure, they study the critical infrastructure of Poland, and pro-government institutions wave their hands,” the senator emphasized.

The politician emphasized that now there is no question of any trade in coal with Russia, which is under sanctions.

“The EU embargo provides for a ban on the import of Russian coal, as well as the import of any other coal from the territory of the Russian Federation, mediation and technical assistance in any activity related to this,” Brayza emphasized.

According to him, the Polish special services should take up this case.

As reported, an embargo on the import of Russian coal has been in effect in the EU since August 1, 2022. The corresponding ban was provided for in the fifth package of EU sanctions adopted on April 7, 2022.

The parliamentary election campaign is underway in Poland, the elections will be held on October 15.