EU proposes Ukraine gas supply deal
Pressure is mounting to solve the long-running dispute, which is part of a wider conflict over Ukraine’s relations with Russia and the West and resulted in Moscow cutting off supplies to Kyiv more than three months ago.
Ukraine needs deliveries to resume if it is to keep its industries running through the winter. Meanwhile, much of the Russian gas supplied to EU countries passes through pipelines that cross Ukraine.
Under the proposal, Kyiv would pay $2 billion to Moscow by the end of October and another $1.1 billion by the end of December, Oettinger said. He indicated that the EU would guarantee the Ukrainian debt payments. In exchange, Russian gas company Gazprom would supply at least 5 billion cubic meters of gas to Ukraine over the coming months at $385 per 1,000 cubic meters. Ukraine would have to pay up front for that new gas.
Oettinger said that, for all its efforts to produce its own gas, save energy and get Russian gas from EU countries via so-called reverse flow shipments, Ukraine needs to buy between 5 and 12 billion cubic meters of gas to assure supplies at home and on to Europe through the winter.