Russia Will Continue Gas Supply as Deadline Approaches

Russia will continue supplying gas to Poland after October 20th, when the current supply contract ends even if a new one is not signed, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said on Friday.

"We'll be going by our long-standing tradition to ensure gas supply and without any harsh decisions," Shmatko said as reported by Reuters.

"In general, I would like to be optimistic and say that both sides will come to an agreement," Shmatko told journalists.

Earlier this week,  Polish Economy Minister and Deputy PM, Waldemar Pawlak, has said that he believed a  gas deal with Russia could be signed quickly.

"In my opinion, the recent agreements allow for the contract to be signed," Pawlak said.

According to the Puls Biznesu daily, an agreement would be an extention of the previous gas supply deal.  Volumes would increase by two billion cubic metres per year and the end date of the agreement would be left unchanged until 2022 while the gas transit will continue until 2019.

The initial agreement concluded at the beginning of this year stipulated an extension of gas supplies till 2037 and transit till 2044, has been held up by objections from the European Union.

Pawlak said the EU no longer has any objections to the Polish-Russian gas deal.