Brussels, 08/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - Over the telephone on Monday 7 July, Commissioner Günther Oettinger and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak agreed to meet before the end of next week to prepare for a further trilateral meeting with Ukraine aiming to resolve the gas dispute between Moscow and Kiev, in late July or August, Oettinger's spokesperson revealed on Tuesday 8 July. The time and date of the meeting between Oettinger and Novak was still unconfirmed on Tuesday, but there was talk in the Russian media of 19 or 20 July.
Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to settle their gas dispute, including the payment of the Ukrainian debt to the Russian gas company Gazprom and setting a price for future deliveries, have been in deadlock since Gazprom cut off the gas to Ukraine on 16 June. Following a month and a half of intense negotiations, in May and June, the negotiations between the two countries, under the mediation of the Commission, broke down in mid-June and contact between the two parties ceased.
The two sides failed to agree on Commissioner Oettinger's compromise, based on Ukraine's payment of its debt in line with a precise timetable and on a price of $385 per 1000 m³ of Russian gas for winter purchases and a price of just over $300 for summer purchases, compared to $485 at the moment, a price laid down in a contract dating from 2009 (see EUROPE 11103).
Gazprom puts Kiev's debt at $4.45 billion: $1.45 billion for the November and December 2013 invoices and $3 billion for its purchases in April and May 2014. Both Gazprom and Ukraine have referred the matter to the International Court of Arbitration in Stockholm.
Commissioner Oettinger is absolutely determined to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table this summer in order to secure EU supplies of Russian gas, half of which transit via Ukraine, before the winter peak demand. At his last meeting with Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan on 25 June, the Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz assured Oettinger that 100% of the Russian gas destined for the European market would be transported, without any being diverted, through Ukrainian territory (see EUROPE 11008). (EH)