Ukraine Approves Polish Pipe

Ukraine's government approved Wednesday a decision to extend its key oil pipeline Odessa-Brody to Poland in favor of its European neighbors in a move certain to dent Russian ambitions to control new oil routes. The initial plan was signed in November in Brussels where Ukraine, Poland and the European Union voiced their support for a project that would ship crude oil from the Caspian Sea to countries which are due to join the EU this year. Andriy Klyuev, deputy prime minister in charge of energy, said Kiev and Warsaw would set up a joint venture to expand the pipeline from Ukraine into Polish territory. "In line with the agreement, we will integrate Ukraine's oil transit system with the Polish one," he said after a government meeting. The extension to Plock would enable shipment of Caspian crude oil via Ukraine to Poland, Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The decision also meant that Ukraine was unlikely to meet Russia's demands to reverse the pipe, which has been idle for about two years. Russian oil firms hoped to convince Kiev to reverse the pipe to ship its booming oil output to the Mediterranean while the United States and the EU backed it as a transit link to rival Russia in shipping Caspian oil. Klyuev said Ukrainian and Polish officials planned to finalize documents on setting up the joint venture later this week. He gave no details on when Ukraine and Poland might complete construction of the new pipe.