国际英语新闻：Russia, Poland sign gas accord

WARSAW, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Russian and Polish deputy prime ministers Igor Sechin and Waldemar Pawlak signed here on Friday a bilateral gas supply agreement.

The agreement, raising Russian gas supplies to Poland by around 2 billion cubic meters annually -- from 7.45 to about 10 billion cubic meters -- and prolonging them until 2022, became necessary after the Russian-Ukrainian gas operator RosUkrEnergo ceased forwarding Russian gas to Poland.

Pawlak said after a signing ceremony that the new agreement guaranteed Poland unhindered gas supplies until 2022. Sechin called that accord "a good example of transparency geared to mutual interests and long-term perspectives."

Sechin assured that Russia has enough gas to meet Poland's demand, but noted that effective supply called for "a balance of interests between producers and end-users."

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the PAP news agency that he had discussed the gas agreement in a telephone conversation with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. According to Tusk, the gas accord with Russia guaranteed Poland safe gas supplies for many years to come.