Following year-long talks, Russian gas supplies to be cut by 33%

A deal was struck yesterday with Russia to reduce gas import volumes by a third, staving off the threat of either having to take delivery or pay for supplies it cannot use. The preliminary agreement follows over a year of talks on trying to reduce volumes agreed in the 1996 Yamal contract under which Poland is committed to receiving 250 billion cubic metres of Siberian gas. Forecasts for gas demand on which that deal was based turned out to be far too high, leaving the state facing potential penalties under a so-called "take or pay" clause in the contract. "We have signed a protocol which will reduce the volume of gas delivered by 35%," Infrastructure Minister Marek Pol was quoted by PAP news agency as saying in Moscow. Pol confirmed on his return to Warsaw that Poland would receive 161 billion cubic metres of gas from 2003 to 2022 under terms agreed with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko. (Reuters) A.Z.