DONETSK, September 17 (RIA Novosti) – The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics (DPR and LNR) are discussing gas deliveries from Russia, Andrei Purgin, DPR first deputy prime minister, told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.
“Actually it’s very realistic. Our experts have been travelling to Moscow already, some discussions took place there,” Purgin said.
There are two gas storage faculties with capacity of up to 1 billion tons on the territory of the republics, according to Purgin.
“The problem is technically feasible. During Soviet times, Donetsk and Luhansk regions were part of southern Russia’s gas transportation system,” the DPR representative said.
Two weeks ago, DPR Security Minister Leonid Baranov also announced that talks on gas deliveries from Russia to the self-proclaimed states in eastern Ukraine are underway.
In mid-June, Russian energy giant Gazprom cut off gas supplies to Ukraine because of ongoing disputes over pricing and debt. The Russian company had to switch to advance payment scheme over Ukraine’s outstanding gas debt of $5.3 billion. Kiev suggested to European companies that it purchase Russian gas through them.
