WARSAW: Liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports by Poland's dominant gas firm PGNiG rose by 10% in 2020 to 3.76 billion cubic metres (bcm), as the company continues to look to reduce its reliance on Russian gas, it said on Thursday.

PGNiG buys most of the gas it resells from Russia's Gazprom via the Yamal pipeline based on a contract that expires in 2022. But it diversifying supplies by buying LNG from Qatar, the United States and elsewhere.

"The following months will bring an increase in the frequency of (LNG) deliveries. In the second and third quarter, we plan to collect a total of about 15 cargos," PGNiG Chief Executive Pawel Majewski said in a statement.

PGNiG said the share of Russian gas accounted for 60% of total gas imports in 2020, stable year on year.

"For several years we have been consistently limiting the import of natural gas from Russia. But the possibilities of further reducing supplies from the eastern direction are limited. We are bound by the 'take or pay' formula contained in the Yamal contract that is binding on PGNiG until the end of 2022," Majewski also said.

Beyond 2022 PGNiG plans to import more LNG from the United States and also receive gas from Norway via the planned Baltic Sea gas connection.