Lider Trading to Deliver 35 LNG Powered Buses to Warsaw

On December 19th in Warsaw City Hall the contract for delivering 35 LNG-powered buses and refueling stations was signed.

The first LNG-fuelled buses will start operating on the streets of Warsaw at the beginning of 2015. The buses will be delivered by Lider Trading — distribution partner of Polish Solbus and Gazprom Germania.

Solbus, its distribution partner Lider Trading, and Gazprom Germania have won a public tender issued by the city of Warsaw by convincing the Warsaw municipal transport company (MZA) of the ecological and economic benefits of using natural gas as a motor fuel.

According to the contract, Solbus will provide innovative LNG-fuelled urban buses, and Gazprom Germania will supply the LNG and invest into the required refueling infrastructure. It is not the first investment made by Solbus and Gazprom into the development of the eco-friendly transport in Poland. In October the companies brought 11 LNG-fuelled buses to Olsztyn, the first such vehicles in the European municipal transport.

„We are proud to be a part of this innovative and unique project. Introducing LNG-fuelled buses in Warsaw may be the first step towards a revolution in Polish and European transport. The benefits of natural gas used as a motor fuel are undeniable — gas is clean, safe and economic”, said Sergei Komlev, the Head of Contract Structuring and Price Formation Directorate of Gazprom Export.

Introducing LNG to public transportation in Poland is an element of the wider European strategy supported by Gazprom Group towards a more eco-friendly, safer and economically attractive transport based on natural gas. Natural gas is one of the most promising fuel alternative to increasingly expensive petrol and diesel. One of the basic advantages of natural gas engines is the fact that they are significantly quieter and meet the strictest environmental requirements by reducing CO2 emissions at a low cost.