Brussels, 28/08/2014 (Agence Europe) - After a month-long summer break, the interminable trilateral negotiations between Russia, Ukraine and the EU on settling the gas dispute between Moscow and Kiev are now due to resume. The negotiations involve the payment of Ukraine's debt to Russian gas company Gazprom, setting a price for Ukraine's future supplies and the EU's security of supply of Russian gas. European Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger will travel to Moscow on Friday 29 August for talks with Russia's Minister for Energy Alexander Novak - the objective being to put back on track talks that were broken off in mid-June after three and a half months of intense negotiations. The meeting aims to prepare the next trilateral meeting in September, agreed at the meeting in Minsk on 26 August between Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko.
Due to its unpaid bills and disagreements on price, Russia stopped delivering gas to Ukraine after the failure of the last trilateral meeting on 16 June. The Russians and Ukrainians did not manage to agree on Oettinger's compromise that was based on Ukraine's payment of its debt according to a precise time schedule at a price of $385 for 1,000 m3 of Russian gas for winter purchases and an approximate price of $300 for summer purchases - instead of a rate of $485 in accordance with a bilateral contract of 2009 (see EUROPE 11103). Before shutting off the gas taps, Ukraine's debt to Russia was calculated by Gazprom to be $4.45 billion ($1.45 billion for the bills of November and December 2013, and $3 billion for purchases in April and May 2014). Gazprom and Ukraine both referred the matter to the international court of arbitration in Stockholm in mid-June. (EH)