Brussels, 02/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - The EU is preparing the ground to resume the three-sided negotiations (with Russia and Ukraine) in order to resolve their interminable gas dispute. On Tuesday 2 September, European Commissioner for Energy Gunter Oettinger unveiled the timetable for the preparations ahead of a new trilateral meeting with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts - Alexander Novak and Yuri Prodan respectively - nearly two months after talks failed in mid-June and the consequent halt to supplies of Russian gas to Ukraine.
Following the meeting between Oettinger and Novak on 29 August, the European Commission and Russian government will meet again, at expert level, in Brussels on 4 September. “This technical meeting (…) aims at further analysing the figures related to security of supply in the next winter”, said Oettinger. It will be followed by a ministerial meeting between Oettinger and Prodan, in Baku (Azerbaijan) on 8 September, on the sidelines of an informal dialogue meeting on the Eastern Partnership. “It is after this meeting that we will agree on a date and location for the next trilateral gas talks which is convenient for all three sides. This could take place in mid-September”, stated Oettinger.
During his meeting with Novak on 29 August, Oettinger reiterated his proposal of finding an “interim solution” to the Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute - a solution involving the setting of a provisional price for Ukraine's future supplies of Russian gas, and a plan for repaying Ukraine's debt to Russian gas company Gazprom. Novak believed the situation was “highly critical with the approach of the central-heating season”, and he warned of the risk that the gas delivered by Gazprom for Europe might be illegally lifted by Ukraine for its own needs.
The halt in supplies of Russian gas to Ukraine provokes fears of disruptions to the deliveries of Russian gas to the EU, half of which transits Ukraine - as happened in 2006 and 2009. (EH)