Head of Naftogaz Ukrainy Andriy Kobolev has acknowledged a threat of a disruption in natural gas supplies to Europe.
“Yes, there is (such a threat). Regrettably, if politics trumps economy in the gas sphere, such a threat is very high,” Kobolev said in an interview with the ZN.UA news portal, when asked whether there was a threat of a halt in gas supplies to Ukraine and Europe.
There are only two ways to avoid this disruption, he said: “Either we agree with Gazprom to keep the price, or we agree with European companies that they buy gas from Gazprom and then sell it to us and also start paying directly for our services of transiting the gas through our territory.”
Kyiv suggested that the European Commission and leading European companies start talks with Gazprom over buying gas on Russia’s western border for pumping it into Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities and transiting to Europe, Kobolev also said.
“Concurrently, we continue the work of complying until January 1, 2015 with the requirements of the Third Energy Package, aimed at liberalizing the energy industry and creating an efficient gas market in Ukraine. Our country assumed such obligations as far back as 2011, but in reality it has only now begun the active work in this direction,” Kobolev said.
“In the event of efficient implementation of the provisions of the Third Energy Package, including integration into the common European gas market, the problem of the Russian gas price will cease to exist altogether. Everything will be transparent. Non-transparent gas supply schemes will become impossible, we shall be trusted by our European partners, and most importantly for us, we shall be trusted by Ukrainian consumers, our citizens,” Kobolev said.
