Brussels, 22/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - Despite significant progress, the trilateral negotiations between Russia, Ukraine and the EU - in Brussels on Tuesday 21 October - to settle the gas dispute between Moscow and Kiev failed to finalise a provisional agreement for the recovery of Russian gas supplies to Ukraine for winter 2014-15. A new meeting is planned for 29 October, the European Commission has announced.
“We have made significant progress and hope for an agreement next week”, said European Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger at the end of a meeting with the Russian and Ukrainian energy ministers, Alexander Novak and Yuriy Prodan respectively. “We made another step towards a possible solution and are close to an agreement on important elements. Others still need to be addressed, such as the financial gap”, Oettinger stated.
The Commission said on Tuesday that the following elements were undisputed: - Ukraine's part-payment of its debt to Gazprom, at a price of $268.5 per 1,000 cubic metres and in two instalments by the end of 2014 (with the first tranche of $1.45 billion by the end of October, and the second tranche of $1.65 billion by the end of December); - Gazprom's delivery to Ukraine, until March 2015, of a volume of gas that has not yet been decided but which Ukraine will pay for at the rate of $385 per 1,000 cubic metres. Ukraine will not be subject to take-or-pay obligations and will have to pay for the deliveries in advance each month; - the payment of transit fees will be guaranteed by Russia.
Another trilateral meeting is planned in Brussels on 29 October. By then, the EU and Ukraine will explore ways to close the financial gap, the Commission stated.
The $3.1 billion that should be paid by Ukraine corresponds to what Kiev believes to be its debt - while Gazprom is asking for $5.3 billion. Ukraine and Russia have taken the issue to the commercial arbitration court in Stockholm and the outcome will determine whether Ukraine has to pay the difference on the amount that it would be committed to paying under the compromise found.
Ukraine's non-payment of its bills “for months” is a “considerable obstacle” to finalising a provisional agreement, Oettinger admitted.
Ukraine has asked the EU for an additional loan of €2 billion, the Commission announced a little earlier on Tuesday, stating that this request was going to be studied in consultation with the IMF and the Ukrainian authorities. (EH)