NABE Project “Buried”. What will the new government offer in return? “We have a concept”

– The NABE project in its current form, in student parlance, is a “buried” project. – Industry Minister Marzena Czarnicka said in an interview with money.pl. The head of the new ministry was also asked about the state of Polish mining and the history of coal abandonment in Poland.

One of the issues raised by Minister Czarnicka in the new interview is the issue of NABE. The establishment of this agency was one of the pioneering projects of the previous government. but Despite the fact that the House of Representatives passed a law on the matter, the “i” was never dotted on the matter. The draft law was not returned to the House of Representatives after the amendments made by the Senate before the end of the term of the previous Parliament. The end of the presidential term and the elections led to an interruption in the flow of legislation.

The idea of ​​NABE was based on separating a portion of coal assets from state-controlled energy companies. Simply put, PGE, Enei, Energi and Taurona were to sell part of their companies, including coal-fired power plants, to the state treasury. Thanks to this they were supposed to get rid of a kind of heaviness that made it difficult for them to obtain financing for investments in the green transition. Financial institutions view coal-related projects as a burden on companies. Therefore, banks and funds are reluctant to lend money to companies whose business is linked to coal.

As a result of this establishment, NABE – or another form of spin-off of coal assets – was highly anticipated by the industry. Reports several months ago about additional steps toward establishing the agency increased the stock market for companies that were scheduled to be listed on NABE. In turn, Minister Czarnicka's recent words, which could be interpreted as an announcement of the project's suspension, led to the setbacks we wrote about. In this article.

In a recent interview, the head of the new ministry spoke more directly about abandoning the idea of ​​establishing NABE. – The NABE project in its current form, in student parlance, is a “buried” project. – Marzena Czarnica said in an interview with money.pl. When asked what would happen with the separation of coal assets, she said: BWe will move towards combining production and mining. This requires actions that must be taken by energy companies, in terms of loans and financing of this activity, as well as mines, which also dream of having a permanent coal customer.

– We can't say anything about that – She answered the question of whether another institution would be created instead of NABE. She added that the government is currently conducting “research on resources, the state of production sources, and how much it will cost.”

Minister Czarnica was also asked whether the government intends to solve the problem of energy companies that will continue to burn coal and thus high loan costs, for example through compensation. – Today I cannot give details. We have a concept, but we have to translate it well And rationalize it – she pointed out.

The minister was also asked about the issue of moving away from coal. She pointed this out Mining situation in Poland 'tragic'Because the state treasury has to pay a lot of money for that. Another problem is the amount of coal found in Poland's landfills. The minister said that the quantity amounts to 10 million tons, while coal is still imported from abroad.

– True history is linked to the social contract (…). When we announce a social contract in Brussels, it must be implemented. There is a clearly written procedure for phasing out coal – answered money.pl's question about the history of coal phasing out in Poland. Let us remember that Poland is currently negotiating the notification of the Social Agreement. It is assumed that hard coal mines in Poland will be phased out by 2049.

-I want to make that clear There will be no revolution, for example, we will lay off tens of thousands of people overnight – Czarnica noted when asked whether miners need to fear losing their jobs. – During this interview, we were sitting in a building in which the Polish mining group is still partially operating, and I can assure you that nothing will happen if there are more than 37,000 people. She added that people will lose their jobs overnight, which will be the collapse of the entire region. . However, she stressed that The government does not intend to “pass the costs of operating the industry and the amount of mining subsidies onto the agenda.”