Poland’s PGNiG (Polskie Gornictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo) has no plans to sign a new long-term contract with Russia’s Gazprom on gas supply to the country, President of the Management Board of the energy company Pawel Majewski told reporters.
"We do not plan to enter into a long-term contract with Gazprom," he said. The present contract between PGNiG and Gazprom (the Yamal agreement) signed in 2010 expires at the end of 2022, TASS reports.
"It is clear how vigorously the Russians insist on our signing a new long-term contract instead of the Yamal [contract], not only on Poland doing this though. The same endeavors are observed regarding other EU countries as well," Majewski noted.
Long-term contracts with Gazprom will not make gas cheaper, they will only result in Europe’s dependency on Russian supplies, he added.
Poland uses around 20 bln cubic meters of gas per year. The Yamal contract that expires in 2022, stipulates the possibility of delivering up to 10 bln cubic meters of gas per year to the country. According to the ‘take or pay’ rule stipulated by the agreement, the republic has to withdraw at least 8.7 bln cubic meters of gas each year.
