As early as 2005, Poland began building an LNG terminal in the Baltic port of Świnoujście, which Przydacz says now provides between 25% and 30% of its supplies from a combination of the US and the Gulf countries. Having received only one delivery in 2015, the facility is expected to receive 50 this year, says Anna Moskua, Poland’s climate minister. Poland has also built a pipeline to Norway, which is expected to be operational in the autumn. The gas storage facility is three-quarters full. and links have been established with Lithuania and Germany, ensuring that supplies can be obtained from neighboring countries. As for Bulgaria, it is in talks aimed at importing liquefied natural gas through Turkey and Greece. It can also get gas from Romania and will soon receive supplies from Azerbaijan through a new interconnection with Greece. Russia may have estimated that millions of homes and businesses in Poland and Bulgaria would be left without heating and electricity, but Moskwa said: “There is no concern about the lack of gas in our homes.” Bulgaria, meanwhile, has confirmed that there will be no restrictions on consumption, further reducing the impact of the Kremlin’s actions. There could be other retaliation. Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said the country was reviewing all its contracts with Gazprom, including the transit of Russian gas to Serbia and Hungary, noting that “unilateral blackmail was unacceptable”. Putin has so far erred in every major call, including the invasion itself. He thought the Ukrainians were weak and would collapse. He was wrong about that. Like his expectation that western unity will break quickly. Has not. And he also thought that Ukraine’s allies would not be willing to arm the country. It was. At every possible turn, Putin acted as if Russia were still a great world power, but what he unwittingly did was reveal his status as a third-class country with a sad army and no real influence on the world stage. It is only nine weeks since the invasion, but some experts believe that the Russian military is already so exhausted that without a full national mobilization, the attack on Donbass could be its last – so even if Putin wins, it will be the more hollow victories.
