The Energy Charter Treaty, signed in The Hague in December 1991, spells out the terms of energy cooperation between eastern and western Europe. But Russia has refused to ratify it as Europe has demanded access for Central Asian states and other countries to Russian pipelines, which Moscow says will make their natural gas 50% cheaper than Russia's when it arrives in Europe.
Vladimir Putin told a press conference after the summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations in St. Petersburg, "There are very specific unresolved problems in the charter itself, and in the additional protocol. Read yourselves what it says, there are clear internal contradictions: on the one hand, our partners are ready to work on long-term contracts, and on the other, they insist that individual sections of the pipeline transport system can be sold and leased."
The Energy Charter means mutual access to hydrocarbon production infrastructure, energy resources and transport infrastructure, the president said.
"Naturally, we can admit our partners to one or another piece of infrastructure. But the question arises: where will they admit us? Where is their production and transport infrastructure? To work on these principles, we need to know, firstly, what we will get in return," Putin said.
However, he said Russia is not against the main ideas in the charter. The president cited cooperation between Russian energy giant Gazprom and Germany's BASF as the best example of the terms Russia expects from its partners.
Through an asset-swap agreement reached in April, the German company will be granted access to a strategic natural gas deposit in Russia and in exchange Gazprom will receive assets involved in gas transportation and distribution in Germany.
