Brussels, 24/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 24 February, the European Commission stated that it was following the gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine very closely with regard to implementation of the winter package on the supply of Russian gas to Ukraine (which expires at the end of March).
“The Commission expects the winter package to be fully implemented by both parties. According to the information we have, the delivery situation [of Russian gas to Europe] is normal and we do not expect it will be affected by the situation in Eastern Ukraine”, said the Commission spokesperson for energy issues, Anna-Kaisa Itkonen.
On Monday 23 February, the Ukrainian gas operator Naftogaz accused Russian gas company Gazprom of breaching the protocol agreement on the supply of Russian gas to Ukraine for winter 2014-15 - an agreement that was concluded on 30 October 2014 under EU mediation. Naftogaz accuses Gazprom of not supplying Ukraine with a volume of gas that has been paid for in advance by Kiev.
Gazprom denied this accusation on Tuesday. “Ukraine has not made a new prepayment for gas in time (…) [This] will lead to a complete cessation of Russian gas supplies to Ukraine in just two days, which creates serious risks for gas transit to Europe”, said Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller in a press release.
“Naftogaz has made serious accusations that deserve in-depth analysis and a verification of the facts. But this investigation is not easy given the nature of the allegations and given the fact that the supplies of Russian gas have allegedly taken place in areas that are currently not under the control of the Ukrainian government. Our experts are on the ground to check these allegations” said Itkonen, adding that European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic was “in permanent contact” with both parties and “ready to organise trilateral meetings each time it's necessary”.
Tension between Moscow and Kiev has been mounting for a week as the expiry of the winter package approaches (the end of March). At the end of last week Gazprom began directly supplying the areas under separatist control in Eastern Ukraine, in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, on the grounds that the Ukrainian government has ceased to do this. (Emmanuel Hagry)