Buzek to sign $11 billion gas import deal with Norway

During a visit to Norway in early September, Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek is to sign a contract for the supply of five billion cubic meters of gas annually over a period of 20 years. Reports in the Norwegian media estimate the total value of the contract at $11 billion. The Polish government has been trying for the past two years to finalize a gas import deal with Norway, going so far on several occasions as to set a date for a contract to be signed. However, it seems certain that an agreement will finally be concluded in Oslo on September 3. "The negotiations are very advanced, and most of the issues have already been resolved," Polish negotiators are quoted as saying. The first supplies of Norwegian gas are expected to reach Poland in 2007. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B1) A.K.