Europe frets over Russia-Ukraine gas impasse
October 22, 2014, 12:23 pm

Gazprom officials, such as its CEO Alexey Miller (above), have been meeting with Ukraine and EU representatives in a bid to resolve the gas crisis with Kiev [Xinhua]

They say they fear the current political and military crisis in the Ukraine could prompt Russian gas giant Gazprom to repeat a previous scenario of shutting down the flow of gas through its western neighbor in Europe.

The European Union says that one-fifth to one-fourth of its gas supplies come from Russia via the Ukraine. Six EU countries depend on Russia for 100 per cent of their gas imports.

Gazprom says the Ukrainian government must first pay its outstanding debt (some $4.8 billion) for previous gas deliveries before it can reopen the tap. It says Kiev has agreed to pay roughly two-thirds of its financial commitments, but says that a quicker timetable for the transaction needs to be established.

Gazprom has been in talks with Ukraine and the EU since May of this year.

During talks in Brussels on Tuesday, Russia said no agreement was reached and cited the EU’s failure to guarantee payment of the full outstanding amount.

“We have offered our European colleagues to look into possibilities of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other financial institutions. Resources do exist, but we don’t see any willingness to work so far,” Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told Russian TV during an interview early Wednesday.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would not create a gas crisis in Europe, but would react to any attempts to steal gas from pipes that run through Ukraine.

“We do not wish any kind of crisis this winter. I am absolutely responsible when I claim that no crisis will occur due to Russia’s fault. We have enough gas to satisfy both our own needs and the needs of our clients in Europe and Asia,” Putin said.

Russia, Ukraine and the EU are to meet again to October 29 in hopes of resolving the crisis.

Source: Agencies