MOSCOW, October 2 (RIA Novosti) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is concerned about the issue of energy security in Europe, the bank's president, Suma Chakrabarti said Thursday.
Given the current geopolitical tensions and "the reliance of many countries on gas from a single source" EBRD has "invested in large-scale projects which can assure against possible interruptions of supply," Chakrabarti said at a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) debate on EBRD activities in 2013-2014.
"We actually began this work after the last energy crisis back in 2012, at the time of tensions between Russia and Ukraine," Chakrabarti noted, adding that EBRD will be financing a gas transit system, including in Ukraine.
According to the bank's president, EBRD has been involved in infrastructure projects in Ukraine in the private and public sectors, energy sector and agribusiness. The bank continues to assist in the spheres of energy storage and transportation.
"We are ramping up our support for Ukraine, boosting our investments, including returning to the public sector," Chakrabarti said, adding that EBRD's investment in Ukraine in 2014 stood at 620 million euros (about $782 million) at the end of August.
"We are [also] supporting Ukraine…through policy dialogue and advice," Chakrabarti added.
Ukraine is a transit country for Russian gas. Around half of the Russian gas imported to the European Union in 2013 crossed Ukraine, which amounts to approximately 15 percent of total European gas consumption, according to the International Energy Agency.
The Ukrainian crisis has aggravated tensions between Russia and Ukraine over gas supplies. The two countries have already held several rounds of talks on the issue to no avail. Kiev initially insisted on a reduced gas price but eventually declined the discount suggested by Russia. Ukraine has also refused to clear its gas debt, which amounts to $5.3 billion.
In June, Russia introduced a prepayment model of gas deliveries to Ukraine and warned that it would reduce gas supplies to Europe should Kiev siphon off gas transited to Europe through its territory.
