Moscow, Jan. 14 - Gazprom chief Alexei Miller said during the first visit to Russia by the EU energy chief Maros Sefcovic that Russia's new negotiating stance was that Ukrainian transit flows would be shifted to Turkey and that Europe should hurry with the construction of new gas transportation capacity to receive that gas from a hub along the border between Turkey and Greece.
Miller also said that Gazprom was building its negotiating position with the European Commission on the basis of a new initiative aired by European officials to create a single buyer of gas.
Asked about the EC’s approach to the functioning of the gas market in Europe, Miller said: “We are building our strategy and further actions based on the plan to create an Energy Union in the EU. These represent new challenges and opportunities for us. We hope the creation of an Energy Union will in no way reduce the reliability and security of energy supplies.”
Asked about the fate of the South Stream pipeline, Miller said: “The project is closed. The Turkish Stream pipeline is the only route along which 63 bcm, of Russian gas that is currently delivered in transit via Ukraine can be supplied. There are no other variants. Our European partners have been informed of this and their task is now to put the necessary infrastructure in place from the border between Turkey and Greece,” he said.
“They have at the most a few years for this. It’s a very, very tight schedule. In order to meet the deadlines, efforts to build new trunk pipelines in EU countries must begin right now, otherwise that gas will end up on other markets,” Miller said.
