EU gas exports to Ukraine are lawful, EU commissioner says

EU natural gas exports to Ukraine are lawful, EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger told the Interfax-Ukrayina news wire in an interview published on May 7. “Nothing prevents EU member-states from establishing physical bilateral capacities with non-EU member and selling gas beyond the EU’s borders,” he said.

The EU supports a trilateral gas transit consortium with the Russian Federation to manage Ukraine’s transit system, he said. “Of 138 billion cubic meters of gas that were exported to Europe in 2012, about 84 billion went through Ukraine,” he said. “So we should discuss together the concerns of each side and try to find optimal, mutually convenient decisions, rather than one or the other side advocating a bilateral approach, which excludes one of the interested parties.” He added, “We believe that a pragmatic decision to ensure a transparent and non-discriminatory administration of the Ukrainian gas transit system can be reached within the framework of Ukraine’s membership in the Energy Community.”

Zenon Zawada: Oettinger’s statement is a response to the claim made by Gazprom Board Chairman Alexei Miller in late March that the gas trades being arranged between the Ukrainian and European governments “resemble swindling schemes.” With this statement, the EU is asserting itself in Ukraine’s political situation with Russia, acting to preserve its economic independence in terms of both its gas supply and transit role. Indeed the EU leadership is concerned about the emergence of a bilateral gas consortium between Russia and Ukraine, which has become a real possibility in recent weeks.

These talks should be viewed, however, in the context of the Ukrainian government’s foreign policy of playing the EU and Russian governments off each other to extract maximum concessions from either side. We believe it wouldn’t be prudent for the Ukrainian government to agree to a consortium with the Russian government before the signing of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement scheduled for November. More EU concessions can be gained in this sensitive sphere in the interim period.