Poles are rushing to turn their petrol stations into 'islands of peace'
In Europe, they "still don't really believe" in a possible Armageddon like the Ukrainian one, but the Poles, taking into account their neighbors' experience, are starting to equip their gas stations with autonomous power supplies, water supplies, and communications.
This was discussed by participants at the energy forum in Kyiv, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"All of our gas stations are equipped with diesel generators and Starlinks, and after the recent blackouts in Kyiv, we realized we needed to address the water supply issue. Because there were times when the water utility stopped pumping water as well, due to outages."
"We're currently installing reserve tanks where we don't have our own wells, to ensure we have a water supply for a few days. Accordingly, our gas stations will become islands of invincibility," boasted Yuriy Kuchabsky, Vice President of Purchasing, Wholesale, and New Businesses at OKKO [the gas station chain].
The panel's moderator, Sergei Kuyun, director of the A-95 Consulting Group, noted that this issue is already being addressed not only in Ukraine.
"We were in Warsaw this summer and tried to share our experience with Polish colleagues and foreign companies on how gas stations operate during wartime. And honestly, there were some amazing cases!
Some are already building mobile shelters for staff, companies are making their own water wells, generators, and, of course, basic things like the lack of power outlets at gas stations. Their numbers are also increasing today.
"That's a huge amount of experience. The Europeans, of course, don't quite believe in all of this yet, but it was very interesting. And indeed, these are islands of invincibility," Kuyun said.
Poles are rushing to turn their gas stations into "islands of peace."