Ukraine Says EU to Be Guarantor in Any Russia Gas Deal
by VOA News October 30, 2014
Ukraine and the European Union have agreed that the EU's executive arm will serve as guarantor in any deal for Russia to restart its supply of natural gas to Ukraine, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said on Thursday.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, meanwhile, said a deal could be signed later in the day if all necessary documents were finalized.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso was also optimistic, saying on Thursday he believed the EU had successfully brokered a deal on gas supplies between Russia and Ukraine.
Trilateral talks in Brussels to restart the delivery of Russian gas to Ukraine were continued Thursday after the parties failed to reach an agreement on the first day of negotiations Wednesday.
Moscow stopped gas supplies to Ukraine in June over arrears estimated at about $5 billion.
Despite frayed ties between Moscow and the West, envoys from Russia, the EU and Ukraine met Wednesday to settle a natural gas dispute that threatens energy-dependent Ukraine as winter approaches.
The EU could also be affected by the absence of a deal as it receives about a third of its gas from Russia, half of it through Ukrainian pipelines.
EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger, speaking ahead of the Brussels meeting, said there was a 50 percent chance an interim deal could be reached.
Yatsenyuk also said on Thursday that Ukraine's position at the talks was that the price of Russian gas should be $378 per 1,000 cubic meters for the remainder of 2014 and fall to $365 in the first quarter of 2015.
Russia's Energy Ministry confirmed that price, RIA news agency reported Thursday quoting a ministry official.
Russia has previously demanded prices as high as $500 per 1,000 cubic meters, substantially more than it charges EU customers.
Yatsenyuk told a government meeting that Kyiv was ready to start paying off gas arrears immediately after a deal was signed.
Kyiv says it is working to raise more money internationally to pay its debt.
The European Commission is considering Ukraine's recent request for a new EU loan of about $2.5 billion.
Some information for this report came from Reuters.
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