BRUSSELS, May 14 (RIA Novosti) – Europe should not let international gas debates be influenced by the political standoff between Russia and Ukraine, Eurogas President Jean-Francois Cirelli said Wednesday.
“Commercial compromise is a backbone of a secure and competitive market. That is why it is important that this backbone is not broken or weakened through political intervention,” Cirelli said during the ninth international conference on energy dialogue between Russia and the European Union.
The Russian gas production companies and, in particular Gazprom, are important commercial partners for European suppliers, Cirelli said.
“It is essential that contractual obligations are met today as well as tomorrow. This is particularly important because … we currently do not know how long it will take for the tensions between Russia and Ukraine to drop,” he added.
On Wednesday, leading experts from 180 countries gathered in Brussels at a conference to discuss the situation with Ukraine’s gas transit as well as the EU’s Third Energy Package, a legislative initiative to develop an energy market on the continent.
Earlier this month, Russian and EU officials met in Warsaw to discuss gas supplies in connection with the ongoing Ukrainian crisis. The next round of multilateral talks is scheduled for Friday.
On Tuesday, Russian gas giant Gazprom sent an official notification to Ukraine’s state-run Naftogaz about switching to advanced payment for gas supplies. If Ukraine fails to pay for June deliveries by June 2, Gazprom will cut off gas supplies from June 3.
Ukraine has not paid for Russian gas in two months. According to Gazprom, Ukraine’s accumulated debt for previous deliveries totals $3.5 billion. On April 1, the price of Russian gas for Ukraine rose to $485 per thousand cubic meters from $268.50, as Russia withdrew two major discounts. Ukraine refuses to recognize the new gas price, which is fully in line with the contract that the two states signed in 2009.
