Maciej Woźniak, energy security aide to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, has said that Poland hopes to come to an agreement with Russia on gas supplies for 2010 and beyond in October or November of this year.

He said that the sides would need about three weeks to obtain all of the required approvals once they came to an agreement.

“I think [the talks] could take place in October and that we will manage to end them successfully,” Woźniak told the TVN CNBC news channel. “Should we reach a compromise, [the deal] could be possible in October or November.”

The Tusk government had originally wanted to conclude the deal in time for Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to Poland last September, but that proved impossible. The sticking point was the role of EuRoPol GAZ, a joint venture between Polish gas monopoly PGNiG and Russia's Gazprom. EuRoPol GAZ manages the Yamal pipeline in Poland.

Mr Woźniak said that Poland would be willing to accept a change in EuRoPol GAZ's shareholder structure – specifically the exit of minority shareholder Gas-Trading, a private company which holds a four-percent stake – but that the change could not result in the weakening of PGNiG's position in the joint-venture.

Around around two-thirds of the gas Poland uses is imported from Russia, and the country will face an annual shortfall of some 2.5 billion cubic meters starting in 2010 if an agreement is not reached.
(Reuters)

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