Brussels, 16/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - On the sidelines of an energy forum in Sofia on Tuesday 15 September, European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic said he believed Russia, Ukraine and the EU can reach an agreement on the supply of Russian gas to Ukraine “if all sides show goodwill” to resolve the outstanding issues.
Sefcovic said he hopes that a final round of trilateral negotiations at ministerial level will be held “before the end of September”, and he added that an agreement would send a reassuring signal that the EU will receive stable gas supplies this winter. “We have had two very good rounds of bilateral meetings with Ukrainian and Russian delegations. Now we have a test upon which we are working and I hope that before the end of the month we will be able to proceed to the final round of negotiations”, he said.
After their failure at the end of June to conclude a new agreement on the supply of Russian gas to Ukraine - an agreement that should take over from the 2014-2015 winter package - Russia, Ukraine and the EU (which is mediating in this issue) returned to the negotiating table after the summer break. Having met Ukraine's Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn (see EUROPE 11377) on 27 August, Sefocvic met Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak on 11 September (see EUROPE 11387). (Emmanuel Hagry)