EU: Russia won’t cut gas supplies to Ukrainian government

The Energy Commissioner of the European Union, Gunther Oettinger, doesn't expect Russia to interrupt gas supplies to Europe because of the crisis in Ukraine, as he explained in an interview with German magazine Wirtschaftswoche that was posted yesterday.

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"I do not believe this would serve the interests of Russia" he said, while the Russian public gas company Gazprom warned on Friday that it will discontinue the supply of gas to Ukraine due to uncollected debts .Critical gas pipelines pass from Ukraine and reach the EU, which buys from Moscow almost 25% of the gas it consumes.

However Oettinger considered that the interruption of gas supplies to Ukraine wouldn't be beneficial for the company: "It's in Gazprom's interest to maintain its daily revenue from sales of investments that pay and generate revenues". The commissioner explained that the consumption of natural gas will reduce by 14% in the EU, if it doesn't flow through Ukraine.

In early 2009, Gazprom had cut off gas deliveries to Ukraine because of unpaid bills, leading to a sharp drop in deliveries in Europe amid a harsh winter. However, Oettinger estimated that the EU is in a better position today to deal with such a scenario, given that the winter is mild and that the gas reserves are larger than a year ago, while the Member States of the European Union are now obliged to ensure that they have adequate supplies for at least 30 days. "We are in a better position, than we were five years ago" he said.