"Ratification of the Energy Charter Treaty means it should be followed by a transit protocol," Viktor Khristenko told an international energy security conference, adding that negotiations on the issue had been ongoing for several years without results.
"Unless a compromise is reached, there will be no question of ratifying the Energy Charter," Khristenko said.
"We need a political framework to deal with specific matters; we need a comprehensible legal environment that would protect the interests of Russian companies, minimizing their risks in the energy sphere," the minister said.
The European Energy Charter was signed on December 17, 1991, by 51 countries. The charter is a political obligation that is not legally binding.
The Energy Charter Treaty signed in December 1994, after three years of intensive negotiations, unites 49 countries, including all former Soviet republics, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Japan, Australia and all EU member states. The treaty covers trade, protection of investments and transit rules, as well as mandatory procedures for settling disputes on a multilateral basis,
Russia has signed the Energy Charter but not ratified it.
