BRUSSELS, May 14 (RIA Novosti) – Reverse gas supplies to Ukraine from Europe cannot match the import volumes that Ukraine is currently getting from Russia, Eurogas President Jean-Francois Cirelli said Wednesday.
“Clearly you cannot compensate the needs of Ukraine from the reverse flow. There is too much coming from Russia so if everything was going in the other direction it will be maybe a third or 50 percent of what Ukraine is using today. It will not be a solution,” Cirelli said during a conference on EU-Russian energy cooperation in Brussels.
Cirelli stressed that the reverse agreement is still being negotiated and has not yet been finalized.
Ukraine has been pushing for reverse supplies of natural gas from Europe in a move to diversify away from Russian energy imports, as Moscow has almost doubled gas prices for Ukraine to $485.50 per 1,000 cubic meters beginning in April by cancelling two major discounts. The price change was largely a reaction to Kiev’s systemic failure to pay for contractual deliveries.
Responding to a question about the recent proposal of EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger to set the same price for Russian gas for all European countries, Cirelli said he does not see how it could be arranged, as “it seems difficult.”
Earlier this month, following a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Oettinger announced the EU wants to establish a uniform price for Russian gas in the European common market.
Alarmed by the possible effects the Ukrainian conflict might have on Russian gas supplies to Europe, Oettinger called to end “the game of 'divide et impera' proposed by Moscow” in a bid to decrease Europe's dependence on Russian gas.
