Warsaw team advises GAZ-SYSTEM in connection with new PLN 2.2 billion financing

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Operator Gazociągów Przesyłowych GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. (GAZ-SYSTEM) in connection with a PLN 2.2 billion financing for the construction of the Gdańsk–Gustorzyn gas pipeline, a key energy infrastructure project in Poland spanning approximately 250 km.

The financing was provided by Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), Poland’s state development bank, using funds from the National Recovery Plan (Krajowy Plan Odbudowy), which forms part of the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility under the broader NextGenerationEU programme, aimed at supporting economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of this project, the loan will support the expansion of Poland’s national transmission system, enabling the efficient distribution of gas from the Gdańsk area to customers both in Poland and across the region, including the Baltic States and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The new transmission infrastructure will span approximately 250 km between Gdańsk and Gustorzyn, and once completed, will have a transmission capacity of up to 1.32 million cubic metres per hour.

The Warsaw-based Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by counsel Jacek Smardzewski and included associate Daniel Książek. The team worked under the supervision of partner Grzegorz Dyczkowski who heads the firm’s Warsaw office and its Warsaw banking and finance practice.

GAZ-SYSTEM plays a vital role in Poland’s energy sector. The company is responsible for the transmission of natural gas and owns the LNG terminal in Świnoujście. As part of its 2015–2025 investment programme, it developed over 2,000 km of new pipelines across Poland. Key projects included the Baltic Pipe (linking Poland and Denmark) and gas interconnectors with Lithuania and Slovakia., Currently, a key investment project being implemented by GAZ-SYSTEM is the construction of the FSRU terminal in the Gulf of Gdańsk along with the transmission infrastructure.

Jacek Smardzewski, counsel leading the transaction, commented:

"We are proud to have supported GAZ-SYSTEM in this strategically important transaction for Poland’s energy infrastructure. The financing was notable not only for its scale and purpose – supporting the development of a key section of the national gas transmission system – but also for being based on funds from the National Recovery Plan. This transaction demonstrates how EU funding can be effectively deployed in cooperation with Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego to support critical infrastructure investments."