Poland seeks to act as hub for increased US liquefied natural gas supplies to Ukraine and Slovakia

Poland is seeking to increase imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States in order to supply the fuel to neighboring Ukraine and Slovakia.

In October, Poland's finance minister, Andrzej Domański, and plenipotentiary for strategic energy infrastructure, Wojciech Wrochna , visited Washington for talks on creating a “Polish gas hub” that would help “ strengthen the resilience and sovereignty of the central European region”.

The US is already the largest supplier of LNG that is brought by sea to Poland's regassification terminal in Świnoujście on the Baltic coast, which can receive around 8.3 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas annually. It currently covers around 40% of Poland's domestic gas demand.

Construction recently begun on a second terminal , to be located in Gdańsk, that will open in 2028 with a capacity of 6.1 bcm. In 2022, when the new terminal was still being planned, Poland announced the aim of using it to supply landlocked neighbors Slovakia and the Czech Republic, as well as Ukraine.

Last month, Poland's gas transmission operator, Gaz-System, announced that it had begun gauging market interest in LNG imports with the aim of assessing whether to build a second floating terminal in Gdańsk alongside the one already under construction.

In comments to the Reuters agency on Wednesday this week, the energy ministry confirmed that “we are working with our partners – Americans, Slovaks, Ukrainians – on the possibilities of importing American gas to boost the energy security of our region.”

A source familiar with the negotiations told Reuters that the volume to be shipped to Slovakia via Poland could be as much as 4 or 5 bcm of gas per year – enough to cover the country's entire annual gas consumption. Slovakia currently receives most of its gas from Russia.

The development comes after the EU last month announced a ban on Russian LNG imports from January 2027 and as the Trump administration pressures countries to stop buying Russian oil and gas.

On Wednesday, Polish President Karol Nawrocki visited Bratislava for talks with his Slovakian counterpart, Peter Pellegrini, focused on energy and security.

“After meetings with President Donald Trump, I proposed that Poland, as soon as possible, become a hub for gas supplies from the United States,” said Nawrocki, who is aligned with Poland's right-wing opposition.

He added that Poland's role as an energy hub can help “lead us to independence from Russia throughout the region”.

In normal times, Ukraine is able to meet most of its gas demand from domestic extraction. However, Russian attacks on its infrastructure during the ongoing war have forced Kyiv to import gas from the west, via Poland , Slovakia and Hungary.

Main image credit: Gaz-System (press materials)