Mr Naimski is reported to have said that the problem did not lie with the Polish side, but with prospective crude suppliers and the Ukraine. He added that the extension project, through which Caspian crude would be transported through Ukraine to Poland and western Europe, was "a complicated matter, concerning five countries." Poland has made efforts to ensure that US companies operating in the Caspian Sea region took a stake in the project, Mr Naimski said. If that happened, "we could speak of a genuine participation of companies in this project of strategic importance," he continued. The Odessa-Brody pipeline was commissioned in 2002, and the extension project from Brody to Gdansk would make it possible to deliver Caspian crude to Poland and thus relieve Poland's dependence on Russian crude.