Russia’s Decision to Skip Ukraine Lacks Economic Sense, Says Naftogaz

Russia’s decision to divert gas from the current infrastructure to a new pipeline to Turkey does not make any economic sense, Naftogaz’ CEO Andriy Kobolyev said on Thursday. 

‘Forcing the European countries to buy Russian gas at the Turkey-Greece border instead of using Ukraine’s existing infrastructure would abandon a perfectly well-functioning and reliable system in favour of investing billions of euros into a new one – a cost that would ultimately be paid by European households and businesses and would risk significant technical disruptions without offering any benefits: the same gas would be transferred, just through different channels. As such, this threat is political bluff’ Naftogaz wrote on its website.

EU Energy Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič was informed of Gazprom’s decision on Wednesday during a meeting in Moscow. 

“We don’t work like this… I believe we can find a better solution,” Šefčovič commented. 

Russia's decision to bypass Ukraine would further increase tensions between Brussels and Moscow. The Kremlin perfectly knows that Brussels should then find a way to compensate Kiev for the missed income.  

During the plenary session on Thursday, MEPs said that sanctions against Russia must remain.  

‘They urge the EU Council at its March 2015 meeting to maintain current EU sanctions against Russia and approve “benchmarks” for lifting them’ reads a note released by the European Parliament.  

Also on Thursday, UkrTransGas published a report suggesting that 2014 gas transit through Ukraine to Europe registered a 28% year-on-year decrease.