EU Commissioner: Russia Must Guarantee Gas Supplies, Ukraine Secure Transit

Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak (2-L) and Gazprom President and CEO Alexei Miller (L) attend talks with EU Commissioner Guenter Oettinger (2-R) to discuss gas supplies to Europe and problems of Ukrainian transit in Moscow Russia, 29 August 2014

Russia, EU and Ukraine will renew gas talks soon and the concrete date will be set next week, according to EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger.

Oettinger met with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller in Moscow on Friday.

Novak suggested that Ukraine had to urgently inject 10 billion cubic meters of gas into its underground gas storage facilities in order to secure gas transit to Europe in winter.

He went on to say that Russia proposed that Ukraine start buying has at the price of USD 385 per 1000 cubic meters of gas, a discount by USD 100, instead of waiting for the decision of the arbitrage procedure.

Miller said that Gazprom was ready to guarantee gas transit to Europe via Ukraine but insisted that the country settle its debt of over USD 5 B.

Oettinger underscored that Ukraine had to pay its debt to Gazprom, adding the EU would soon propose a concrete schedule for its repayment.

The EU Energy Commissioner, as cited by the Bulgarian National Radio, noted that Russia had to confirm that gas deliveries to Europe were secure, while Ukraine had to guarantee transit.

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