Ukraine, Russia to resume gas talks on Oct. 7 after EU to review proposals

Макроэкономика 06.10.2014 The Ukrainian and Russian sides have sent each other their visions on how they see resolving the dispute over the supply and price of natural gas, Ukraine Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan told journalists on Oct. 3, according to the Interfax news agency. Prodan explained that both sides have agreed to send, by Oct. 7, to the EU Commission their vision of what parts of the counterparty’s offer are acceptable. It will be the task for the EU Commission to consolidate all the adoptable proposals into a single document. Though there are lot of discrepancies between the two sides, Prodan expressed his hope that compromise will be found. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak stated the same day that a new date of the trilateral meeting on the gas issue will be scheduled after Oct. 7, thus implicitly confirming the plan earlier announced by Prodan. Recall, Russia and Ukraine met in Berlin on Oct. 26 to reach some preliminary verbal agreement on gas issues, but they are still putting the details of the possible gas deal on paper. In other news, Naftogaz of Ukraine reported on Oct. 3 that it signed earlier a contract for gas supply with Norway’s Statoil, which has been supplying natural gas to Ukraine through Slovakia since October 1. European statistics revealed this deal did not help increase gas stockpiles in Ukraine. While the government was able to accumulate 925 mcm of natural gas in September (30.8 mcm/day), in the first five days of October it accumulated 68 mcm, or just 13.6 mcm/day. Alexander Paraschiy: Ukraine and Russia already spent more than a week trying to consolidate their positions on an interim gas deal that they both reportedly want to reach. Such a long time for finding common ground, as well as a series of statements that both sides made last week, indicates that the nations are far from reaching consensus. While the deal looks unavoidable, given that both sides are interested in signing it, it looks as though it will be up to the EU Commission to force the deal. The Commission is not only an intermediary in the process, but also a side that’s highly interested in securing a deal between Ukraine and Russia, which will minimize the risk of interruptions in gas supply from Russia to the EU this winter season.