WARSAW: Poland's president met with Qatari officials this week to discuss a liquefied natural gas (LNG) deal with Qatar that has drawn scrutiny from the eastern European country's public spending watchdog.
Under the agreement "take-or-pay" contract signed in 2009 with state-run exporter Qatargas, Poland's gas monopoly PGNiG will buy 1 million tonnes of LNG annually from Qatargas for 20 years at a price closely correlated to crude oil.
While the deal requires PGNiG to begin paying for LNG whether the terminal on the Baltic coast is ready or not, the Polish treasury minister said in September the country is unlikely to pay for supplies if the facility is delayed.
During his visit on Monday, President Bronislaw Komorowski discussed the contract to deliver Qatari gas to Poland starting at the turn of 2014 and 2015 with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and stressed the LNG facility could potentially distribute supplies throughout the region, the president's office said in a statement.
"This is a strategic plan, it is worth thinking over with the Qataris where one may locate common and good business, also for the benefit of third countries.
I am also thinking about Ukraine," Komorowski said in a statement.
Based on current prices, the Qatari imports would cost at least a third more than what Russia charges for deliveries to Europe a situation that has raised protests in Poland and spurred the Supreme Audit Office to look into the deal.
A delegation from PGNiG accompanied the president on the visit and met with Qatargas officials but the gas monopoly declined to provide details of the talks.
PGNiG said, however, that it had created a special team of experts to work on the Qatari deal.
The 2.4 billion zlotys ($787 million) terminal under construction in the Baltic port of Swinoujscie is expected to be finished in the second half of 2014 with Qatari deliveries beginning in 2015.
The terminal is part of Polish plans to diversify its gas supply and reduce its reliance on imported Russian gas.
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