UPDATE: Poland, Russia To Hold More Gas Talks After Dec 5
The officials said the two parties still need to iron out legal and technical matters leading to the agreement between Poland's PGNiG (PGN.WA) and Russia's OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS).
A new round of talks will take place after Dec. 5 in Moscow. Strzelec-Lobodzinska said Poland hopes to complete the talks with Russia by the end of 2009.
"We will hold talks in the week after December 5 and hope to reach agreement by the end of the year," Strzelec-Lobodzinska said. She added the parties have already agreed on the timeline of the new deal, gas prices, volumes and rules for gas transit through Poland, as well as on the squeeze-out of a third shareholder in the PGNiG-Gazprom Polish pipeline joint venture EuRoPol Gaz.
"Poland will for a very long time continue to serve as a transit country [for Russian gas]," Strzelec-Lobodzinska said.
Gazprom Vice President Alexander Medvedev added the new deal is based on a compromise between Russia and Poland that benefits both parties.
The latest agreement includes the extension of an existing gas supply contract until 2037, and involves the operations of EuRoPol Gaz, the operator of the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, and the tariff policy for EuRoPol Gaz.
Under the deal, PGNiG will increase Russian gas purchases to 10.27 billion cubic meters a year, measured in accordance with Polish norms, or close to 11 billion cubic meters a year according to Russian norms, up from 7 billion cubic meters bought last year.
Poland currently consumes some 14 bcm of gas annually and projects that its demand will increase to some 18 bcm by 2015, driven chiefly by increased use of gas for electricity generation.
The new agreement between the companies, to supplement the so-called Yamal contract between PGNiG and Gazprom, also requires a change of a the national gas agreement of 1993 between the governments of Poland and Russia on long-term gas deliveries. For this reason, representatives of the two companies negotiate with the participation of government officials from both countries.
-By Marcin Sobczyk, Dow Jones Newswires; +4822 447-2432; marcin.sobczyk@dowjones.com
Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=no%2F1TU6xfjkV4lOyprHpaQ%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.
Publié le 26 novembre 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones
Commentaires
Faire un Commentaire