The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, will Monday hold talks with Ukraine and Russia at a high technical level to assure the reliability of its gas supplies, a spokesman for the commission said Wednesday.
"The discussion will explore the issues related to the storage of gas in Ukraine and also...on future steps to ensure continued gas supplies to the E.U. and Ukraine," said Johannes Laitenberger, spokesman for the commission's president, Jose Manuel Barroso.
Officials from Ukraine, Russia and their respective gas companies, Naftogaz and OAO Gazprom (GASP.RS), are expected to participate, as well as officials from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Laitenberger said. Representatives from the European gas industry are also invited, he added.
Russian gas is stored in Ukraine in the summer and used during the winter to meet Europe's peak demand. Last January, a price dispute between Russia and Ukraine cut supplies to Europe for weeks, mostly affecting eastern European countries which are still heavily dependent on flows from Russia. Most Russian gas to the E.U. flows through Ukraine.
Barroso said last week that another major crisis could arise up in a matter of weeks.