Supply of gas to the Ukraine discussed in Brussels

Russia, the Ukraine and the European Union have begun a new round of gas negotiations, which, apparently, won’t be quick. Yesterday, a question of how to register Russian gas supplies to Donbass within the overall arrangements for the supply to the Ukraine was discussed. As a result, Russia agreed that the supply to Naftogaz Ukrainy won’t be related with the supply to the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. How the gas supplies to Donbass will be registered and who will pay for them is not decided for a while. It is significant that head of Gazprom Alexei Miller didn’t arrive in Brussels, made it clear that Russia didn’t hope to resolve the situation in the framework of a commercial relationship with Naftogaz.

Yesterday, representatives of Moscow, Kiev and Brussels held the first gas talks since late October 2014, when the scheme of temporary supply of Russian gas to the Ukraine during the heating season (the so-called winter package) was approved. The yesterday's meeting was caused by the fact that Gazprom and Naftogaz Ukrainy couldn’t decide how to register the Russian gas supplies to the breakaway Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics after the cessation of the gas supply to Donbass by Kiev. Since Russian gas is still supplied to the Ukraine under prepayment, the disagreements can lead to disabling of the country this week.