Trilateral Russia-Ukraine-EU Gas Talks to Take Place in Brussels on Friday

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic has said that the energy ministers of Russia and Ukraine, representatives of European Commission, Russian Gazprom and Ukrainian Naftogaz energy companies will discuss the transit of Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine during the talks.

Ukraine is a key country for transit of Russian gas to Europe. However, for years Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in gas disputes. In June 2014, Gazprom switched Ukraine to a prepayment system for gas supplies citing its massive gas debt. Ukraine’s Naftogaz appealed to the Arbitration Court in Stockholm, seeking a retroactive revision of its 2009-2019 natural gas transit contract with Russia.

The hearing began on November 21 and the decision on the fight is expected in the middle of 2017.

In October 2015, Naftogaz said it would not buy gas from Gazprom due to high prices. Ukraine said it had other suppliers in Europe and would only resume purchases if Russian prices were below EU prices, while Russia said it halted deliveries when Ukraine failed to pay.

Europe intervened in the dispute late in 2015 to mediate the so-called winter gas package for the peak season in 2015-2016 at trilateral talks. A 2016-2017 winter package has not been agreed on despite the onset of the cold season.