In October, Polish gas monopolist PGNiG may seek arbitration over the price it pays Russian Gazprom for gas, PGNiG deputy CEO Radoslaw Dudziński was quoted by Reuters as saying last Thursday.

Imports sourced from Gazprom account for around two-thirds of the 14 billion cubic metres of gas PGNiG sells annually. The recent hike in gas prices has had a negative effect on the group’s financial performance in the first six months of this year.

Despite increased gas sales, PGNiG posted a Q2 net loss of zł.20 million. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected it to report a net profit of zł.164 million.

“The very high cost of gas in H1 2011, higher by almost zł.900 million year-on-year, weighed most heavily on the group’s financial performance during the period,” Joanna Zakrzewska, a spokesperson for the firm, said in a statement.

High prices of Russian gas imports are hitting PGNiG particularly hard because the Polish monopoly’s prices are set by the Energy Regulatory Office (URE).

But this might change as early as the end of next year. The URE may stop setting the prices of natural gas for industrial clients by the end of 2012, Dow Jones reported URE head Marek Woszczyk as saying.

Poland has been ordered by the European Commission to deregulate its gas market as soon as possible.