Polish Embassy in Beirut denied a report that a Russian plane carrying aid to coronavirus-hit Italy was blocked from using its country’s airspace.
In a statement sent to Al-Manar on Thursday, the embassy said: “In view of the increasingly frequent reports that Polish authorities are blocking the transit of medical supplies through Poland, we strongly emphasize that such reports are false.”
The statement noted that exports of certain medical products from Poland are regulated by the ordinance of the Minister of Health of 20 March 2020 on the introduction of a state of epidemic in Poland.
“Under the ordinance, export restrictions apply only to products manufactured in Poland or purchased by Polish entrepreneurs for further redistribution. In this case, they are required to notify a provincial governor having jurisdiction over their seat or place of their residence of their intention of exporting or selling such products outside Poland. The provincial governor transmits such notification without delay to the minister competent for health. The purpose of these regulations is to ensure that domestic production provides, in the first place, against epidemiological risks in Poland.”
Noting that “no such restrictions apply to products in transit,” the statement added that medical products referred to in the above-mentioned ordinance which are requested by one country in another third country “may transit through the territory of the Republic of Poland without hindrance, upon presentation of a consignment note and an invoice indicating that they do not originate from a Polish entrepreneur as a seller.”
In an article published on Tuesday, March 24, Al-Manar quoted a Russian Senator and a former chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs Aleksey Pushkov as saying that Poland refused to let Russian military aircraft carrying aid to Italy to use its airspace.
Pushkov’s tweet was initially reported by Sputnik news agency.
Source: Polish Embassy in Beirut
