Poland's gas monopoly PGNiG plans to reduce this year's purchases from Russia to a contracted minimum without incurring penalties, a PGNiG management board member said on Tuesday.
PGNiG gas imports rose to 10.9 billion cubic metres last year, with the bulk coming from Russia's Gazprom at a highly uncompetitive price fixed in a long-term contract.
The price in PGNiG's deal with Gazprom is linked to a nine-month moving average of oil prices, which rose 44 percent in annual terms in the fourth quarter of 2011. The cost was boosted by a 12 percent drop in the Polish zloty to the dollar.
PGNiG posted an unexpected net profit in the fourth quarter because it bought cheaper Russian gas from Germany through the so-called virtual reverse, which allows it to benefit from the better terms available to German firms, and through expanded links to gas systems in neighbouring countries.
The state-controlled group is in a dispute with Gazprom over gas pricing. In February it sought the intervention of an international tribunal by filing a lawsuit against the Russian firm.
Poland's gas policy envisages decreasing dependence on costly Russian supplies by building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and expanding as well as developing new links to other gas systems in the region.
