Ukraine and Poland to Revive Odesa-Brody Pipeline

KYIV, Ukraine, December 1, 2010 - The Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov and the Marshal of
the Polish Senate Bogdan Borusevich discussed the plans of the two countries
to revive the use of the Odesa-Brody pipeline. The high officials also
mentioned a possibility of constructing a new leg of the pipeline.
Presumably, it will stretch all the way to the Northern Polish city of
Gdansk, and thus will make one step forward towards the establishment of a
new route to transport the Caspian oil to the EU countries.

During his meeting with Mykola Azarov, Bogdan Borusevich
stated that he considers the stretching of the Odesa-Brody pipeline to
Gdansk, Poland, being prospective. Borusevich mentioned that realization of
the project will become ever more relevant for Poland now that oil transfers
through Druzhba pipeline might get reduced. Druzhba is the world's largest
pipeline system carrying oil from European Russia through Ukraine, Belarus,
Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Germany. Marshal also pointed
out that Polish investors have purchased oil refinery in Lithuania. In this
respect there is a possibility to build a branch of the Odesa-Brody pipeline
to the refinery.

"The Ukrainian side has already built its part of the
pipeline, but Poland, unfortunately, has not", Borusevich added. "I was
pleased to hear that Azarov's government is interested in the
Polish-Ukrainian cooperation on this and other projects in the field of
energy security".

On November 23, 2010, the Ukrtransnafta company completed the
testing of the Odesa-Brody pipeline in the direction of Druzhba's southern
branch. In 2009, a Polish pipeline company Sarmatia made a prediction that
the construction of the conduct pipe in question would reach Plotsk and
Gdansk before 2012.

The Odesa-Brody pipeline is a crude oil pipeline between the
Ukrainian cities of Odesa on the Black Sea, and Brody near the
Ukrainian-Polish border. The usage and the direction of the Odesa-Brody
pipeline is viewed to be of considerable geopolitical significance, since it
provides a new route to diversify oil supplies to the EU. The pipeline was
originally intended to reach Gdansk in order to transfer oil from the
Caspian Sea (mainly from Kazakhstan) to the Polish Baltic Sea port and from
there to the rest of Europe.

For more information, please contact Natalya Shulevskaya
+380633776645 news at wnu-ukraine.com, Project Manager at Worldwide News Ukraine