Naftogaz EC Visit Unlikely to Yield Winter Deal

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller will not be attending the December 9 meeting in Brussels to discuss Russian gas sales to Ukraine this winter, said the CEO of Ukraine gas monopoly Naftogaz Ukrainy, Andriy Kobolev. This casts doubt on reaching agreement for gas supplies from now until the end of March, he told press December 8.

In both 2014 and 2015 the 2009 gas contract between Russia and Ukraine was amended in the autumn in order to allow prepayment for Russian gas that winter, with the European Commission supervising the performance. The trilateral talks normally involve the CEOs of both companies, their respective energy ministers and the EC. Miller's non-show is seen as a sign of no interest.

Kobolev would not comment on the price it would expect to pay until an agreement was reached, and said it was in Gazprom's interests to agree terms sooner rather than later so that it could sell more gas. Naftogaz is always prepared to buy Gazprom's gas, provided it is sold on terms that fit EU law, he said. "We will buy from as many counterparts as possible, including Gazprom," he said.

Europe's biggest transit operator

William Powell