PGNiG informs Gazprom of natural gas supply deal termination

Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo (PGNiG), the state-run company, said it has obtained the required corporate approvals and notified Gazprom of its intent to terminate the supply deal.

The deal for the supply of natural gas to Poland was concluded in September 1996, dubbed the Yamal contract, PGNiG noted in its statement, adding it has notified Gazprom and Gazprom Export it plans to terminate the deal, with effect from December 31, 2022.

In accordance with the provisions of the Yamal contract, three years prior to its original termination date, i.e. by December 31, 2019, the parties are required to submit a declaration whether or not they intend to continue their contractual relationship beyond 2022.

“In line with the Republic of Poland’s aspiration to achieve security of energy supplies and seeking to deliver the PGNiG Group’s current strategy, over the past four years we have taken a number of important steps to diversify the sources of natural gas supply to Poland. We have concluded long-term LNG supply contracts and have been acquiring natural gas deposits on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, which, combined with the activities of the transmission system operator to expand the gas pipeline system, makes it possible for us to terminate the Yamal Contract on the originally set date,” said Piotr Woźniak, president of the PGNiG management board.

To remind, PGNiG noted in its latest report that the importance of LNG in its imports mix has been growing with LNG supplies’ share in total gas imports was about 23 percent, compared with about 18 percent a year earlier.

Poland imported 27 percent more LNG in the first nine months of the year, compared to the corresponding period 2018, with 22 cargoes landing at the President Lech Kaczyński terminal in Świnoujście over the period under review.