Poland, Russia unlikely to sign gas deal by Sept

WARSAW, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Poland is unlikely to sign a gas deal with Russia during Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to Warsaw at the beginning of September, Polish Economy Minister Waldemar Pawlak said on Wednesday.

A further round of negotiations between Poland and Russia on gas deliveries aimed at securing full supplies from 2010 is set for late August following the failure of talks in July, but this would leave insufficient time to rubber-stamp a potential deal.

"The Warsaw meeting did not bring fruit. We hope we can finish the negotiations before the (Russian) prime minister's visit to Poland," Pawlak told Public Radio. "There is no chance for an agreement to be signed on September 1."

Pawlak did not rule out the possibility that negotiations might drag on until year-end, forcing the government to seek alternatives to Russian supplies in order to ensure full gas deliveries.

"A special team at the ministry is working on finding alternative solutions now," Pawlak said.

Poland, which imports about two thirds of its gas from Russia, faces an annual shortfall of some 2.5 billion metres from 2010 and Russia is practically the only supplier capable of filling the gap.

Poland receives gas from Russia via the Yamal pipeline, which is capable of carrying about 30 billion cubic metres of gas annually to Europe.

But the Polish government wants to diversify its sources by building a liquefied natural gas terminal. (Reporting by Patryk Wasilewski; editing by James Jukwey)