“Our gas supplies are guaranteed with a safe and long-term outlook.We are very close to signing the inter-governmental agreement for natural gas supplies from the Russian Federation to Poland”, said the Deputy Minister of Economy, Joanna Strzelec-Łobodzińska, after the meeting of the Polish and Russian negotiation team, which took place on 26 November 2009 at the Ministry of Economy.
Deputy Minister of Economy Joanna Strzelec-Łobodzińskaunderlined that during the talks both parties agreed upon majority of the issues named in the inter-governmental agreement. “We determined, among other things, the level of gas supplies and the effective term of the gas contract. The gas transfer agreement was also extended in time”, she said.
The Deputy Minister of Economy also pointed out that the agreement still requires a greater level of legal and technical detail. “Related talks on those issues will continue in Moscow after 5 December 2009”, she added.
The Russian Deputy Minister of Energy, Anatoly Borysovich, underlined that a major step forward has been made during the talks, among other things, in the area of corporate management of EuRoPolGaz. “I am convinced that the document discussed today and most likely to be signed establishes a stable foundation for further cooperation”, added the Deputy Minister of Energy.
On behalf of Poland, the meeting was attended by, among others, Deputy Minister of Economy Joanna Strzelec-Łobodzińska, President of the national gas operator PGNiG Michał Szubski, director of Department of Oil and Gas Maciej Kaliski, and representatives of Energy Regulatory Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Russian party was represented by, among others, Deputy Minister of Energy Anatoly Borysovich Janovsky, Deputy Chairman of Gazprom's Management Committee, Alexander Medvedev, and representatives of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Poland.
***
Negotiations on natural gas supplies for Poland had begun on 7 May 2009 in Moscow. The last session on the corporate level between the respective national gas operators, PGNiG for Poland and Gazprom for Russia, took place on 28-29 October 2009. During the meeting, the companies agreed to increase gas supplies for Poland and extend the current gas contract until 2037. In addition, compromise solutions were developed to improve management of EuRoPol GAZ S.A. and its tariff policy.
The next step is to finalise negotiations on the inter-governmental level.
The following tasks remain to be done:
-
close the negotiations – agree on the draft international agreement and indicate officials to sign it
-
adopt the Council of Ministers resolution approving the text of the international agreement, including consent to sign the agreement
-
sign the international agreement.