Brussels not commenting on new gas row between Kyiv, Moscow, expects stable gas supplies to EU
The European Commission is not commenting on the new gas supply dispute between Kyiv and Moscow, but hopes that it will not lead to the disruption of gas supplies to the EU states.
"The Commission has no comment on this matter. We expect that the two parties will guarantee there are uninterrupted gas shipments to the EU," European Commissioner for Energy Gunther Oettinger's spokeswoman Marlene Holzner told Interfax-Ukraine in Brussels on Monday.
During a briefing at the EC, she told reporters that at the present time "no-one is talking about a crisis." "We simply see that two separate events have taken place. Ukraine signed an agreement with Shell and several days later Russia told Ukraine that it had to pay the account," she said. "We have no crisis, no-one is talking about a crisis," she said.
During the gas crises in 2006 and 2009, the EC and EU "implemented a number of measures aimed at, in the event gas delivery was interrupted, it would not be important for any reason, technical or otherwise, there would be enough gas," Holzner said. "Each member country of the EU was guaranteed to have enough gas for 30 days for the most vulnerable consumers. That means that a number of consumers in Bulgaria, Italy, and Poland - name any EU member country - if there was a half in the delivery of gas, six days, two weeks, they would not be out in the cold," she said.
The EC is in constant contact with both parties "on a wide range of issues," and there will be a meeting this week involving EC energy commissar Gunther Oettinger and Ukraine's foreign minister, Holzner said.
Russia's gas company Gazprom earlier presented Naftogaz Ukrainy with a bill for about $7 billion for importing less natural gas in 2012 than agreed. Naftogaz again said that the company on time and in full paid for the whole amount of natural gas under bills sent by Gazprom. The holding also said that it several times informed the Russian company that Ukraine plans to reduce purchases of natural gas in 2012.
The parliamentary website says the Verkhovna Rada registered a draft resolution on instructing the cabinet of ministers to the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce concerning the cancellation of contracts between national oil and gas company Naftogaz Ukrainy and Russian gas giant Gazprom that were concluded in 2009.
Some experts said that Moscow may stop the gas supplies to Ukraine due to this new gas dispute.
