Russia Honoring EU Gas Supply, Transit Commitments

All commitments on supplies and transit of Russian gas to the European Union are being implemented in full, European Commission spokesperson, Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, told TASS on Saturday.

"All existing commitments to supply and transit gas to the EU are being honored," she said. "We will follow the situation closely in order to ensure that the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine to the EU—as it remains our priority—is safeguarded at all times," TASS reported.

European Commission’s vice president in charge of Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic, held phone conversations with Ukrainian Prime Minister Vladimir Groisman, Naftogaz CEO Andrei Kobolev and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak on Saturday and Friday.

The conversations focused on Ukraine's concern regarding pressure levels in gas supply from Russia, on gas for the transit to the EU and the decision of the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal.

The EU spokesperson said that during the phone conversations, the Russian side "informed that Gazprom is determined to terminate its contracts with Naftogaz, however this procedure may still take some time".

"In this context, however, the commission encourages both sides to engage in seeking a satisfactory solution to this issue," Itkonen said. "The commission stands ready to engage and mediate in a trilateral process, which in the past proved to be effective in bridging differences between the parties."

The spokesperson said that due to the complexity and sensitivity of the issue, the commission will also explore this possibility in the course of separate bilateral EU-Russia and EU-Ukraine consultations on the issue.

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said on Friday the Russian gas holding is forced to immediately begin the procedure of terminating its gas supply and transit contracts with Ukraine.

He told reporters that the Stockholm arbitration, guided by double standards, adopted an asymmetric decision on the contracts with Naftogaz of Ukraine regarding gas supply and transit.

According to Miller, the decision seriously violates the balance of interests of the parties under these contracts.