Brussels, 25/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - The date for the next trilateral ministerial meeting between Russia, Ukraine and the EU to conclude a new agreement on supplying Russian gas to Ukraine has not yet been announced, but is apparently imminent.
On Wednesday 24 June, the mediator for this issue - European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic - said he hoped there would be a meeting “in the coming days”.
After a trilateral meeting at expert level in early June, the Commission announced progress in the discussions to define the draft agreement that will take over from the 2014-2015 winter package on supplying Ukraine with Russian gas.
The 2014-2015 winter package was concluded at the end of October 2014 with the EU's mediation. It expired at the end of March but Russian gas company Gazprom agreed to extend it temporarily until the end of June.
Vladimir Putin announces a reduced discount. On Wednesday, Russia's President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia could no longer grant Ukraine the reduced gas price that it previously enjoyed. “It is obvious that given such a serious fall in oil prices and, as a result, gas prices, we cannot provide the same discount as earlier. The price for Ukrainian customers should be (…) in line with nearby countries like Poland”, he said. (EH)