Ukraine says gas dispute with Russia not to harm transit to Europe
Xinhua, February 28, 2015 Adjust font size:
Ukraine's state-run energy company Naftogaz said here Friday that a fresh flare-up in the gas dispute between Kiev and Moscow will not harm gas supplies to Europe.
"We see no linkage between supply of Russian gas to Ukraine and its transit to Europe," Naftogaz's head Andrey Kobolev told reporters at a press conference.
Kiev stands ready to ensure uninterrupted transit of gas to Europe even if Russia halts gas supplies to Ukraine, he said.
He said last summer Kiev has fully fulfilled its obligations for Russian gas transit to consumers in Europe despite the gas cutoff, which affected Ukraine.
In June 2014, Russia cut off all gas supplies to Ukraine as the two sides failed to reach an agreement on payments.
In October 2014, Kiev and Moscow signed a gas supply "winter package" worth 4.6 billion U.S. dollars, under which Ukraine is receiving gas from Russia on a prepayment basis.
On Feb. 24, Russia's Gazprom threatened to cut gas supplies to Ukraine as Kiev failed to prepay for deliveries.
The talks over a new gas dispute between the two ex-Soviet countries are scheduled to take place on March 2 in Brussels with participation of Ukrainian and Russian energy ministers. Endite