Cars Lined-Up In Poland Waiting To Get Coal Amidst Energy Shortages Due To Embargo On Russian Coal

Along with many other European nations facing an energy crunch, largely due to the restrictions levied against Russia, Poland is beginning to face their own set of issues. Now many Poles are reportedly waiting in long lines to receive coal to power their homes and stay warm.

In 2020 Statista reported that Poland imports nearly 66% of their coal supply from Russia, with Australia coming in at 15.5%, even though Poland still mines a lot of their own coal.

In early March, days after Russia announced they would perform operations in Ukraine, Poland vowed to completely cutoff their reliance on Russian coal.

Polish news reported at the time that Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he wanted to end all imports immediately and levy restrictions against Russia, and I” spoke with the Prime Minister of Australia to transport coal from there as well,” he said.

Putin Blasts Western Leader’s ‘Sanctions Fever’ That Will Cause Europe To ‘Freeze.’ Gazprom Mocks Europe And Says ‘Winter Will Be Big’

Now the tidal waves of those moves have reached the ‘shores’ of Poland. Reuters reported on some of these individuals a couple of weeks ago:

In Poland’s late summer heat, dozens of cars and trucks line up at the Lubelski Wegiel Bogdanka coal mine, as householders fearful of winter shortages wait for days and nights to stock up on heating fuel in queues reminiscent of communist times.

Artur, 57, a pensioner, drove up from Swidnik, some 30 km (18 miles) from the mine in eastern Poland on Tuesday, hoping to buy several tonnes of coal for himself and his family.

“Toilets were put up today, but there’s no running water,” he said, after three nights of sleeping in his small red hatchback in a crawling queue of trucks, tractors towing trailers and private cars.

This is beyond imagination, people are sleeping in their cars. I remember the communist times but it didn’t cross my mind that we could return to something even worse.

Artur’s household is one of the 3.8 million in Poland that rely on coal for heating and now face shortages and price hikes, after Poland and the European Union imposed an embargo on Russian coal following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

Poland banned purchases with an immediate effect in April, while the bloc mandated fading them out by August.

While Poland produces over 50 million tonnes from its own mines every year, imported coal, much of it from Russia, is a household staple because of competitive prices and the fact that Russian coal is sold in lumps more suitable for home use.

Soaring demand has forced Bogdanka and other state-controlled mines to ration sales or offer the fuel to individual buyers via online platforms, in limited amounts. Artur, who did not want to give his full name, said he had collected paperwork from his extended family in the hope of picking up all their fuel allocations at once.

The mine planned to sell fuel for some 250 households on Friday and would continue sales over the weekend to cut waiting times, Dorota Choma, a spokeswoman for the Bogdanka mine told Reuters.

The limits are in place to prevent hoarding and profiteering, or even selling spots in the queue, Choma said.

Like all Polish coal mines, Bogdanka typically sells most of the coal it produces to power plants. Last year, it sold less than 1% of its output to individual clients so lacks the logistics to sell fuel directly to retail buyers.

Lukasz Horbacz, head of the Polish Coal Merchant Chamber of Commerce, said the decline in Russian imports began in January when Moscow started using rail tracks for military transport.

But the main reason for the shortages is the embargo that went into immediate effect. It turned the market upside down.
He told Reuters

A spokesman for the Weglokoks, a state-owned coal trader tasked by the government to boost imports from other countries declined to comment, while the climate ministry was not available for comment. Government officials have repeatedly said Poland would have enough fuel to meet demand.

In recent years, Poland has been the most vocal critic of EU climate policy and a staunch defender of coal that generates as much as 80% of its electricity. But coal output has steadily declined as the cost of mining at deeper levels increases.

Coal consumption has held mostly steady, prompting a gradual rise in imports. In 2021, Poland imported 12 million tonnes of coal, of which 8 million tonnes came from Russia and used by households and small heating plants.

In July, Poland ordered two state-controlled companies to import several million tons of the fuel from other sources including Indonesia, Colombia and Africa, and introduced subsidies for homeowners facing a doubling or tripling of coal prices from last winter.

As much as 60% of those that use coal for heating may be affected by energy poverty.
Horbacz said

Back at Bogdanka, Piotr Maciejewski, 61, a local farmer who joined the queue on Tuesday, said he was prepared for a long wait.

My tractor stays in line, I’m going home to get some sleep.
He said.

AUTHOR COMMENTARY

[13] Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. [14] Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. [15] Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.
Isaiah 47:13-15

Again, it is to be duly noted that these actions are because of the Lord using these European leaders to exact his judgment. The WP has been covering how all of the major nations are Europe are getting battered in some way or fashion – Germany appearing to be the sickest puppy in the kennel. This will lead to rioting and anarchy in the streets. I ponder if a bona fide “dark winter” is approaching?

German Foreign Minister Says She Will Put Ukraine First ‘No Matter What My German Voters Think’ Or How Hard Their Life Gets

Switzerland Considers Jailing Residents Who Heat Their Rooms More Than 19°C And Banning Portable Heaters

As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.
Proverbs 26:21

[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).

The WinePress needs your support! If God has laid it on your heart to want to contribute, please prayerfully consider donating to this ministry. If you cannot gift a monetary donation, then please donate your fervent prayers to keep this ministry going! Thank you and may God bless you.