Russia, Ukraine, Eu Deal To Assure Gas Supply To Europe

A trilateral agreement between Russia, Ukraine and EU is an important step to guarantee natural gas supplies to Europe in the winter, said a Gazprom official Friday. 



"The deal is a significant step for preventing interruptions of natural gas to Europe in the winter," said Sergey Kupriyanov, the deputy head of the Information and Communications Department of Gazprom, in an e-mail. 



As Russian natural gas crosses to European Union countries by pipelines that run through Ukraine, Europe remains vulnerable to any cut in the Russian supply. 



Moscow, Kiev and the EU signed a deal Thursday that would secure flow of Russian natural gas to Ukraine this winter, despite the tensions between the two countries in eastern Ukraine. 



"Gazprom has shown great flexibility to make this deal possible, which is based on mutual compromises," Kupriyanov said. 



Russian gas company Gazprom cut its natural gas supply to Ukraine after claiming that Ukrainian national oil company Naftogaz did not pay its gas debt totaling $4.5 billion.



"The consensus is an important message on complying with the agreement and fulfilling the responsibilities of payment," said Kupriyanov.  



"We hope this is the beginning of a more constructive era for natural gas relations between Russia, EU and Ukraine, as well as sharing the risks evenly, based on overseeing the duties of the deal," he added. 



While the EU Energy Minister Guenther Oettinger brokered the agreement between Ukraine, Russia and the EU, the European Commission will serve as a guarantor for the natural gas supplies.



"Gazprom is a reliable gas supplier, and will continue to be in the future," Kupriyanov concluded.   



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