LONDON (Dow Jones)--Russia's gas monopoly OAO Gazprom (OGZPY) said late Thursday that despite the efforts of the European Commission, there has been no agreement on multilateral monitoring to help solve the gas crisis, and it blamed Ukraine for failing to sign the deal.
A draft of the protocol on the establishment of an international expert commission on the transit of natural gas through Ukraine, prepared by the Russian side and viewed by Dow Jones Newswires, proposes that the ministries of energy of Russia and Ukraine, the European Commission and "gas producers, purchasers, transporters and independent experts" appoint one representative each to the monitoring body.
"Anything less risks producing a partial and inaccurate picture of gas transit volumes," Gazprom said in a statement.
A Gazprom's spokesperson also said that 10 purchaser countries had signed the agreement, but Ukraine has refused.
"The E.U. Commission then produced a far more limited proposal involving just gas experts and E.U. officials. Gazprom rejected this as inadequate for monitoring the Ukrainian transit effectively," Gazprom said.
The copy of the protocol viewed by Dow Jones Newswires has only signatures, those of Gazprom and Russia's Energy Ministry. It also has spaces for signatures by the European Commission, the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, Ukraine's national gas company Naftogaz, and 12 companies.
The list of companies includes Germany's E.On Ruhrgas AG; France's GDF-Suez S.A. (GSZ.FR); German natural gas importer Wingas, which is a joint venture between BASF SE's (BAS.XE) unit Wintershall Holding AG and Gazprom; RWE Transgas, a Czech unit of German energy company RWE AG (RWE.XE); Austria's gas distributor OMV Econ Gas; Italy's Eni SpA (E); Slovakia's SPP; Public Gas Corporation of Greece DEPA S.A; Bulgaria's Overgas; Hungary's Panrusgas Gas Trading PLC; Moldova's Moldovagaz; and engineering company SGS Vostok.
Gazprom has various stakes in some of those companies.
Gazprom said it intend "to resume gas supplies as soon as satisfactory conditions for monitoring the flow of transit gas through Ukraine are agreed."
Gazprom will keep pressing for a resolution of the crisis, and will continue the search for an agreement with its Ukrainian counterpart, the company said.