Putin promises Ukraine gas – for the winter at least
Kyiv and Moscow have failed to resolve their gas supplies dispute, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said after meeting Russia’s leader. According to Putin, only an agreement for winter supplies has been reached, but details are still to be worked out.
“We agreed on the basic parameters of the gas contract,” Poroshenko told reporters in Milan where leaders from Europe and Asia gathered for the ASEM Summit. According to the Ukrainian president, the Ukrainian side is looking for sources of funding to pay off the arrears.
The optimistic statement came after Poroshenko met with Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak and the head of Gazprom Aleksey Miller.
But emerging from a meeting Russia’s President Vladimir Putin later in the day, the Ukrainian leader said that no agreement had been reached. New talks have been scheduled for October 21; the EU is once again set to mediate the process.
“We have failed to reach any practical results,” Poroshenko told reporters after a 45-minute meeting with Putin. He noted that “some progress” in the dispute but said that details are yet to be worked out.
No more credit-based gas to Ukraine – Russia
Vladimir Putin, on his behalf, stated the two countries agreed on terms of gas supplies “at least for the winter period”.
“The current issue is cash deficit in Ukraine,” Putin said, calling on Western partners to help Kyiv overcome the crisis.
Russia is not ready to supply gas to its eastern neighbor without pre-payment. He said that Kyiv still owes Moscow some $5.5 billion, but is ready to reconsider this sum and a provide a discount of $100 per one thousand cubic meters. This will reduce the debt to $4.5 billion.
At the last round of gas talks held in Berlin along with EU energy commissioner Gunther Oettinger, it was agreed that Ukraine would start paying back Gazprom $2billion of its $5.3 million debt, and Russia would turn back on supplies.
So far no further detail has been provided, but trilateral talks between Russia, the EU, and Ukraine will again be held on October 21 in Brussels.
The gas price and payment schedule have been key stumbling blocks in the dispute.
Russia offered $385 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas, less than the $400 average for European clients, but Kyiv argues the price is too high, and wants to set it at $285 per 1,000 cubic meters.
Source: RT