"The Russian Federation is still open to continue consultations and work together with European countries in order to stabilise the situation," Putin said in a declaration to foreign leaders.
"We also hope that the European Commission will more actively engage in the dialogue in order to work out specific and fair solutions that will help stabilise the Ukrainian economy."
He said state-controlled exporter Gazprom had been forced to demand Ukraine pay in advance for gas as of June after its debt for Russian gas supplies reached $3.5 billion. Moscow has twice reduced gas supplies to Kiev during price disputes, causing disruptions in supplies to Europe, which takes about half of the gas it imports from Russia through Ukraine.
[hurriyetdailynews.com]
15/4/14
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Putin Warns of Ukrainian Default, Urges Talks. The full text of the letter (The letter is addressed to the leaders of 18 countries)
Russia Can Diversify Away From EU as China Welcomes Gas Cooperation
Gazprom: Ukraine fails to pay its April gas bill. --This comes as Ukraine receives the first tranche of $3 billion from the IMF.
- Putin expects more active EU role in solving Ukraine gas debt problem
Russia is disappointed by the absence of EU specific proposals on solving the Ukraine gas debt problem and expects European countries to play a more active role in this process, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.
In a special address to European leaders, Putin said that Russia’s decision to demand advance payments for natural gas deliveries to Ukraine was a forced measure.
“In early April, we came up with a proposal to hold immediate consultations with the aim of elaborating coordinated actions to stabilize the Ukrainian economy and ensure stable Russian gas deliveries and transit in compliance with contract terms,” Putin said in his letter.
Since then, Russia has held consultations with some non-EU countries in Moscow, at which “our partners fully shared our concerns over Ukraine’s payments for gas delivered by Russia and the risks of insufficient amounts of gas pumped into Ukraine’s underground storage facilities (to ensure uninterrupted gas transit to Europe),” Putin said.
“As for EU member countries, only one meeting was held In Warsaw during this period with a delegation led by EU Energy Commissioner (Gunther) Oettinger with the participation of Ukrainian representative (Energy Minister Yuriy) Prodan,” Putin said.
“Unfortunately, we have to state that we have not received any specific proposals from our partners on stabilizing the situation with the fulfillment of contractual obligations by the Ukrainian buyer and ensuring reliable gas transit,” Putin said.
The Russian president said that “over this time the situation with the payment for Russian gas had only deteriorated” as Gazprom had not received any payment for gas delivered to Ukraine.
“Ukraine’s overall debt has grown from $2.237 billion to $3.508 billion,” Putin said. “The debt grew despite the fact that the Ukrainian side had received the first $3.2 billion loan tranche from the IMF,” Putin said.
“In this situation, the Russian side issued a bill for gas prepayment from June 1 in strict compliance with the contract and will make gas deliveries in amounts prepaid by the Ukrainian side,” Putin said.
“I would like to emphasize once again that this is a forced decision. The Russian Federation remains open for the continuation of consultations and for joint actions with European countries for normalizing the situation,” Putin wrote in his letter.
[itar-tass.com]
15/5/14
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Message to the leaders of European countries regarding the supply and transit of Russian gas across the territory of Ukraine....
ReplyDeleteThe message reads:
Dear colleagues,
In early April we suggested immediate consultations in order to work out a coordinated approach to stabilise the Ukrainian economy and ensure stable deliveries and transit of Russian natural gas in accordance with contractual terms.
Over a month has passed. Consultations with the representatives of a number of non-EU countries have taken place in Moscow, in which our partners told us they completely shared our concerns over the situation with Ukrainian payments for gas deliveries from the Russian Federation and the risks due to insufficient amounts of gas being stored in Ukrainian underground storages.
As regards EU countries, we have only had one meeting in Warsaw with a delegation led by European Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger, attended also by Ukrainian representative Yuri Prodan. Unfortunately, we have to say that we have not received any specific proposals from our partners as to how to stabilise the situation with the Ukrainian buying company so that it can meet its contractual obligations and ensure reliable transit.
Moreover, the situation with payments for Russian gas only got worse over this period of time. Gazprom has not received a single payment for the gas supplied to Ukraine, and the total debt has grown from $2.237 billion to $3.508 billion.
And this despite the fact that Ukraine has received the first tranche of the IMF loan to the amount of $3.2 billion.
Given the circumstances, the Russian company has issued an advance invoice for gas deliveries to Ukraine, which is completely in accordance with the contract, and after June 1 gas deliveries will be limited to the amount prepaid by the Ukrainian company.
I would like to emphasise once again that we were forced to make this decision. The Russian Federation is still open to continue consultations and work together with European countries in order to normalise the situation. We also hope that the European Commission will more actively engage in the dialogue in order to work out specific and fair solutions that will help stabilise the Ukrainian economy.
http://eng.kremlin.ru/news/7183
15/5/14