Polish PGNiG to end gas supply deal with Gazprom

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's dominant gas firm, state-run PGNiG, said on Friday it had notified Russia's Gazprom that it will not renew their long-term deal on gas supplies when the agreement expires after 2022.

Poland had said before that it did not plan to buy gas from Gazprom after 2022. However, the agreement signed in 1996, known as the Yamal contract, required that the parties formally submit declarations regarding future cooperation three years before the deal expires.

Poland still buys most of the gas it consumes from Gazprom, but has taken steps to reduce its reliance on the Russian firm, as it considers the conditions of the Yamal deal unfavourable.

Gazprom Export, the gas-exporting arm of state-controlled Gazprom, confirmed in a statement to Reuters that it had received the notification from PGNiG.

"The option of sending such a notification is allowed by the contract," Gazprom Export said, adding that it continued to supply Poland as per its contractual obligations.

PGNiG said in a statement its contracted liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies and acquisitions of gas deposits in the North Sea would guarantee security of supplies after 2022.

Lithuania earlier reduced its imports of pipeline gas from Gazprom but was buying some volumes from Novatek, a private Russian gas producer, in the form of LNG.

Ukraine, formerly Gazprom's largest gas buyer, has gradually reduced direct pipeline imports from the company amid a series of pricing rows. It now imports Russian gas indirectly via other countries. 

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