Brussels, 28/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 25 September, after several months of talks, Russia and Ukraine finally agreed - under the mediation of the EU - on a binding protocol for the supply of Russian gas to Ukraine for the winter of 2015-16.
Ukraine's Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn, his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak and European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic initialled the protocol in front of press on Friday evening, at the end of a six-hour meeting.
This agreement on the terms of the new winter package (which will guarantee the supply of Russian gas to Ukraine from 1 October until 31 March 2016) is a “crucial step towards ensuring that Ukraine has sufficient gas supplies in the coming winter and that there is no threat to the continued reliable gas transit from Russia to the EU”, Sefcovic stated. “The initialising demonstrates that both parties live up to their roles as reliable partners in the gas business. I am confident that the agreement will be soon confirmed and smoothly implemented for the benefit of all parties concerned”, he added.
Although the technical details of the new winter package have now been settled, the three parties nevertheless stated that the text still had to go through official procedures before being adopted definitively.
Under the terms of the initialled protocol, Ukraine commits to securing the transport of natural gas across its territory to the EU, including by injecting 2 billion cubic metres of gas into its reserves. The operation will be carried out between the Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz and the Russian gas company Gazprom.
Russia commits to lowering the price of its gas sold to Ukraine during the last quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016 by cutting its export duty to “a competitive level”, comparable to that enjoyed by the EU neighbouring countries that are also supplied by Russia.
According to Russian media, the reduction in the price of Russian gas comes to a discount of $24.6 per 1,000 cubic metres in comparison with the current contract, and thus comes to a price of $227.4 per 1,000 cubic metres. On Thursday, Novak said that this reduction would be in the order of $20 per 1,000 cubic metres.
In addition, the EU commits to facilitating - along with the international financial institutions (the World Bank and the IMF) - the financing of Ukraine's purchases, but “it will not provide additional financing”, Sefcovic stated. At least $500 million should thus be available by the end of the year, according to a European Commission press release. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)