Czech Republic: Net4Gas Plans Poland Extension

Czech pipeline operator Net4Gas has said that it is planning to extend pipelines in the Czech Republic to hook up to Poland's gas system.

The expansion will go ahead, no matter the outcome of a planned sale by owner RWE, a spokesperson told Bloomberg yesterday, and will receive financing from the European Union.

"The plan for interconnecting Czech and Polish gas pipelines is valid regardless of RWE’s plans to sell Net4Gas," Milan Repka told Bloomberg. "The EU will finance only a part of the project."

Mr. Repka did not say how much the project would cost but said that it examine the economic feasibility of the project and gas traders' interest before going ahead.

The news came on the same day that Polish pipeline operator Gaz System said that it was considering making a bid for Net4Gas to RWE.

Speaking to Czech newspaper E15, Jan Chadam, Chairman of the Board of Gaz System, said that Gaz System had not ruled out the possibility of bidding to purchase the company.

He also confirmed that the pipeline extension would go ahead no matter who bough Net4Gas and "would be independent of the future owner of Net4Gas".

The pipeline extension is planned to aid in the Czech Republic's bid to diversify from Russian gas supply, which currently forms the bulk of Czech imports.