Gaz-System, the company that manages Poland's natural gas transportation network, will invest €1.1 billion (about zł.4.5 billion) in a north-south gas link, the company's CEO Jan Chadam said.

The pipeline will link the LNG Terminal in Świnoujście with the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine and countries in Southern Europe. About 30 percent of the financing could come from EU funds, Mr Chadam said. The construction would begin in 2014.

“In five years we want to build 940 kilometers of natural gas pipelines to transfer gas from Świnoujście up to the Czech, Slovak and Ukrainian borders,” Gaz-System spokesperson Małgorzata Polkowska told AFP.

KW, JC