Four days after the Ukrainian delegation unilaterally left negotiations with Gazprom over its gas supply contract, Gazprom once again urged its Ukrainian partners to return immediately to the negotiating table and to desist from siphoning off natural gas from Russia’s shipments to other countries.
“Since 31 December, Ukraine has refused to negotiate with Gazprom, and instead has resorted to siphoning off gas intended for European customers, in full breach of its obligations as a transit country. We implore Ukraine to desist from these illegal actions and to come back to Moscow to negotiate once and for all a mutually acceptable gas supply deal. Gazprom has taken every possible step to find a workable solution, and to bring and keep both sides at the negotiating table. We remain willing to meet with them immediately,” said Gazprom Deputy Chairman Alexander Medvedev.
Ukraine has admitted to siphoning off gas from pipelines and underground storage facilities, in clear violation of a signed transit contract that runs through 2010, as well as its obligations as a signatory to the Energy Charter. As a result, energy firms in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania and Hungary have noted falls in supply. Gazprom has increased volumes to pipelines in both Ukraine and Belarus to address this situation in the short term.