European Commission to provide $500 mln to Ukraine by late 2015

The European Commission would provide $500 million to Ukraine for the purchases of Russian gas until the end of 2015.

"The European Commission continues its efforts towards organising, through European and international financial institutions, the necessary financing for gas purchases by Ukraine during the winter period, as part of which at least $500 million should be available by the end of this year," reads a press release of the European Commission issued on Saturday.

Commenting on the results of the trilateral meeting on Friday, European Commission Vice President in charge of Energy Union Maros Sefcovic said: "The agreement on the terms of the new Winter Package is a crucial step towards ensuring that Ukraine has sufficient gas supplies in the coming winter and that there is no threat to the continued reliable gas transit from Russia to the EU. The initialising demonstrates that both parties live up to their roles as reliable partners in the gas business. I am confident that the agreement will be soon confirmed and smoothly implemented for the benefit of all parties concerned."

According to the initialled protocol, Ukrainian side commits to securing natural gas transit through its territory to the EU, including via injecting 2 bcm of natural gas into underground storage still in October 2015, reads the press release.

The Russian Government commits to lowering the gas price to Ukraine, by means of decreasing the export duty, to a competitive level comparable to the neighbouring EU countries both in the 4th quarter 2015 and in the 1st quarter 2016, the European Commission said.