The embargo of Russian coal should be suspended, Sławomir Mentzen, the new leader of the far-right KORWiN party said, arguing that where it comes from does not matter to consumers. The government imposed a ban on Russian coal imports in March as a part of sanctions after Moscow invaded Ukraine, which in Mentzen’s view, was a wrong step by Warsaw. “You should ask some old lady that is going to suffer cold in winter whether or not she would heat [her house] with coal from Russia. For that old lady, who would freeze in her little flat, the origin of the coal would make no difference,” the politician told Radio Zet. Metzen said that were it up to him; he would not block coal imports to Poland “from anywhere,” even from Russia. He added that the country cannot wait for regulations to be adopted at the EU level. Until last Spring, Russia was the largest coal exporter to Poland. In 2021, imports from Russia amounted to 65% of the country’s overall coal import, according to Eurostat.
According to the data from March, 66% of the energy in Poland’s energy mix comes from coal. Moreover, almost half (46%) of Poles declare that they heat their houses with coal, as indicated by survey research by Polish Public Opinion Research Center (CBOS). Poland is now tackling a coal shortage and high prices. To mitigate the price rise, the government introduced a one-time 3000 zł (€627) subsidy for all households that prove to have coal stoves. The local governments have 60 days for the payment from when an application is submitted. The first households have already received their subsidies. The KORWiN party was set up by a group of rightist, Eurosceptical Polish politicians in 2015 and named after controversial former MEP Janusz Korwin-Mikke, who was one of its founders. Mentzen, was elected the party’s new leader on Monday and replaced Korwin-Mikke.