Brussels, 27/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - At the EU-Russia-Ukraine meeting in Berlin on Monday 26 May to discuss the Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute, EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger suggested partial payment by Ukraine of its gas bills to Russian gas company Gazprom. Oettinger said he thought there was a good chance of finding a solution this month to the dispute that has been acute since the beginning of April.
After a meeting with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan, Oettinger said that Russia and Ukraine would be studying his three-phase proposal that would see Ukraine pay $2 billion of its outstanding bills to Gazprom by Friday 30 May (for unpaid gas dating back to November 2013). If this payment is accepted by both countries and paid by 30 May, talks would continue on the future price of Russian gas deliveries to Ukraine, which would resume on Friday. Ukraine would then pay the remaining $500 million to Gazprom on 7 June.
Oettinger said progress had been made but not a breakthrough. Prodan said that agreement had not yet been reached by Russia and Ukraine and Ukraine had not agreed to pay $2 billion by Thursday. The two counties have until Wednesday to respond to Oettinger's proposals. Prodan said that payment was not a problem because Ukraine would pay its debts, but it wanted an all-inclusive price. He said Russia had not offered to cut its prices. On Tuesday, Ukrainian Finance Minister Oleksandr Shlapak called for assurances that the gas price would be reduced before paying any arrears.
Ukraine wants a change to the terms of a 2009 agreement forcing it to buy a set amount of Russian gas at US$485 per 1,000 m3, the highest price demanded of a European customer. Russia reduced gas prices at the end of 2013 to US$268.50 but then raised them again after pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovitch was deposed. Oettinger is trying to get the two sides to agree on a price somewhere in the middle. The average price paid by Gazprom's European customers is around US$370. Russia says progress was made on Monday, and Novak said that once Russia has been paid, it was prepared to continue talks on Friday to set future gas prices. (EH)