Brussels, 14/01/2009 (Agence Europe) - The day after the failed attempt at re-establishing Russian gas supplies through the Ukraine to the Community market, the Union stepped up the pressure on Moscow and Kiev, where the leaders from the two member states most affected by the Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute, Bulgaria and Slovakia, travelled to for direct discussions with the authorities from the two countries. On Wednesday 14 January in his address to the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, José Manuel Barroso upped the ante by threatening Kiev and Moscow with legal action from European gas companies against their Russian Gazprom and Ukrainian Naftogaz partners if gas supplies to Europe are not immediately resumed. Mr Barroso stated that, “the current situation is unacceptable and incredible. Unacceptable, because European consumers are after a week still without gas supplies. Incredible because we are still in this situation the day after an agreement was signed by senior officials with guarantees from Russian and Ukrainian leaders that it will be implemented. Without wishing to judge the intentions of either party, we can make an objective observation: Russia and Ukraine are proving that they are incapable of respecting their commitment”. The Commission is the main party responsible for the agreement signed on 12 January with Russia and Ukraine with regard to sending an international mission of observers to monitor gas supplies on the ground. Under the terms of this agreement, Russian gas supplies transited by Ukraine should have resume on Tuesday morning at 7 o'clock. The Union was unable to confirm this and only pointed out that little or no gas at all was getting to it. Mr Barroso insisted that, “I want to send a clear message to Moscow and Kiev, if the agreement promoted by the Union is not immediately honoured, the Commission will recommend that European companies take the matter to court”. So far, only the Hungarian gas company Emfesz, whose damages suffered are in the range of $30 million, indicated that it had lodged a complaint against the Ukrainian Naftogaz company following the total stoppage in supplies of Russian gas. Given that the Serbian gas company Srbijagas believes that the Ukraine is the main culprit for blocking Russian gas supplies to Serbia, the company is also looking at possible legal action against Naftogaz. Mr Barroso also averred that, “we will soon see whether there is a technical blockage or whether there is no political intention of honouring the agreement”. His firm stance was warmly welcomed by his audience. Barroso concluded that, “if the agreement is not honoured, Russia and Ukraine will no longer be considered as reliable gas suppliers to Europe”. In a letter addressed to Russian and Ukrainian energy ministers on Wednesday, the Commission and Czech presidency of the Council emphasised that in the absence of an “immediate and complete” resumption of gas supplies, the credibility of the two countries as suppliers worthy of trust would be irrevocably put in question.
The Czech prime minister and acting president of the Council, Mirek Topolanek, has already been criticised for his slow response and also proved unconvincing with regard to his management of the crisis. He has been both incapable of providing a solution or maintaining the unity of member states. On Wednesday evening in an address to the European Parliament where he was presenting the Czech presidency's programme, he would only say that he did not, “want to start wagging a finger at any of the parties to say who is responsible. Both parties are wrong, one because it is not supplying gas and the other because it is blocking supplies”. Nonetheless, faced with the Union's lack of power to ensure efficient mediation in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Bulgarian Head of state Sergey Stanichev and his Slovak counterpart, Robert Fico (whose countries are 100% dependent on Russian gas transited through Ukraine) were resigned to holding direct discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian authorities. Joined by their Moldavian counterpart, Zinaida Greceanii, Stanichev and Fico travelled to Kiev and then Moscow on Wednesday to put pressure on the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin and his opposite number in Kiev Julia Timochenko. In Bulgaria, the situation is becoming critical as the country has no longer any gas reserves and just twenty or so days left of oil. In Slovakia, where gas reserves are greater, almost a thousand companies have had to drastically reduce production.
Unable to agree on a tangible settlement to their dispute, the Russian and Ukrainian governments and their respective energy companies, Gazprom and Naftogaz, strove to reject any responsibility for the failed resumption of gas supplies to Europe. Shortly after assurances by Timochenko to Mr Fico that the transit of Russian gas would resume as soon as Gazprom opened up the pipelines, the Ukrainian Naftogaz accused the Russian gas company of making it technically impossible to send Russian gas to Europe by failing to provide sufficient pressure power. Gazprom said that on Tuesday evening it had asked for transit through Ukraine on Wednesday of nearly 100 million cubic meters of gas but accused Naftogaz of not wanting to transit the gas to the Balkans, Moldavia or Slovakia. Mr Putin and Ms Timochenko are said to be ready to meet and said that he was ready to call on the Union to put pressure on Ukraine, which it accused of holding Europe to ransom. The Ukrainian president, Victor Iouchtchenko went to Warsaw for consultation with his Polish counterpart, Lech Kaczynski, Kiev's declared ally in the crisis but Poland has been relatively spared any cuts in supply and continues to receive 84% of its usual Russian gas volume from Belarus. (E.H./trans/rh)