Brussels, 27/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 27 November, European Commissioner for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic said he expected stability in supplies of Russian gas to the EU and Ukraine this winter, following the Russian-Ukrainian agreement at the end of October for the supply of gas to Ukraine until March 2015. The deliveries have not yet resumed and Kiev has not yet paid in advance.
“So far, everything is in order. We are in close contact and, I would even say, everyday contact with both Ukraine and the Russian Federation, and I hope that we will have no problem with gas this winter”, Sefcovic told press on the sidelines of a conference on the energy charter that took place in Astana (Kazakhstan) on Wednesday 26 November. “Ukraine has paid the first instalment of its debt to Russia - in other words, $1.45 billion. We are now waiting for the Ukrainian side to order gas. The Ukrainian side is now discussing how much gas it needs before the end of the winter period, and by the end of December Ukraine will pay off the second half of this debt”, Sefcovic stated, underlining that the EU was “watching that all parties respect this agreement”.
The winter 2014-15 package that was agreed between Russian and Ukraine on 31 October, under the EU's mediation, focuses on paying off the unpaid bills of Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz to Russian gas company Gazprom, and also focuses on the payment methods for deliveries until March 2015. It is based on Naftogaz's payment of part of its debt to Gazprom at the price of $268.5 per 1,000 cubic metres in two instalments: $1.45 billion immediately and $1.65 billion by the end of 2014. Russia, which claims a total arrears of $5.3 billion, has accepted to appeal to the international arbitration court of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce for the outstanding $2.2 billion in order to determine the final price and final amount of the Ukrainian debt.
Russia has agreed to deliver gas to Ukraine until March 2015 at a price of below $385 per 1,000 cubic metres - a price calculated according to a formula written into the current contract between Gazprom and Naftogaz, and a reduction in price through Russia's reduced taxes on Ukrainian exports. Ukraine's payment is to be made in advance on a monthly basis.
Naftogaz transferred the first instalment of $1.45 billion at the start of November but it has still not said when it will make it new orders, or for what volume. The Ukrainian gas company's management nevertheless announced on 24 November that it planned to buy a billion cubic metres of Russian gas by the end of the year, and up to this amount monthly over the winter. (EH)