EU hopes to reach new gas deal with Russia by June

The European Union (EU) aims to reach a new agreement with Russia by June, under which Russia will supply gas to Ukraine throughout next winter and guarantee supplies to the EU, a European Commission official said on March 19.

Speaking ahead of a trilateral meeting (Russia, Ukraine and the EU) in Brussels, the official said that although not expecting much results, the EU and Kiev would try to reach a gas deal with Russia by June 2015.

Illustrative photo. (Photo source: AFP/VNA)

According to him, importing gas from Russia is necessary to replenish reserves at the level of 20 billion cubic meters, the amount needed to ensure supply to Ukraine and the EU until the end of winter next year.

As the Russia-Ukraine energy deal is about to expire, the Russian and EU Energy Ministries announced that Moscow will hold a new round of gas negotiations with Kiev in Brussels under EU mediation on March 20.

Earlier this month, Russia agreed to continue supplying gas to Ukraine until the end of next month, as a dispute over Ukraine's payments for Russian gas threatened to disrupt vital energy supplies to Europe, as 15% of its gas consumption passes through Ukrainian territory.

The dispute between Russia and Ukraine broke out in mid-June last year, when Russia stopped supplying gas to Ukraine because Kiev owed $5.3 billion in unpaid gas payments from Gazprom.

This supply was only resumed when Naftogaz paid an advance of 378 million USD to Gazprom on December 7, 2014 to receive 1 billion m3 of gas./.

According to VNA