Ukraine can transit more gas through its territory to the EU to compensate for the reduced gas flow acrossBelarus, which resulted from the latter's payment conflict with Russian monopolist Gazprom, Kiev announced yesterday (23 June).
Ukraine can increase the transit of Russian gas within days or even hours to help the EU avoid problems, Ukraine's Energy Minister Yuri Boiko told the Brussels press after meeting Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger.
"At the same time, we hope that the conflict will be solved soon," he said.
Any repetition of the gas crises that occurred between Ukraine and Russia several times in the past can now be ruled out, Boiko said.
The Ukrainian minister explained that his country's new leadership had cleaned up its relations with Gazprom and any repetition of the 2009 January gas crisis was now impossible.
"We have a very clear situation in relations with Gazprom - we pay for gas on time, and Gazprom diligently pays for transit. All decisions were taken without any politics involved, and they are beneficial economically to all participants. In our relations with Russia today there are very effective mechanisms, which are pretty clear to our European partners,"Boiko said.
Oettinger said he was concerned about cuts in gas supplies to Lithuania, as Lithuanian authorities reportedly confirmed that Russian gas supplies via Belarushad decreased by around 50%.
"International commitments on gas supply must be respected unconditionally. Gas cuts as some of our member states are witnessing now are not acceptable. This is an affront against the whole European Union."
A Commision paper seen by EurActiv mentions contacts between Brussels and Moscow, confirming fears that that the reduced gas supplies to Belarus could increase to 85% by 25 June if the issue of the outstanding debt was not resolved.
"Should there be prolonged disruption, however, Lithuania may face demand reductions, as it is 100% dependent on Russian supplies transited through Belarus through one single entry point," the document reads.
Oettinger's services report that they have requested the natural gas industry associations (Eurogas and GIE) to establish a list of experts for the purpose of establishing a monitoring mission.
However, Oettinger insists that Europe must not be taken hostage in this dispute. "This is an issue between Belarus and Russia," the document insists.
A similar situation occurred over the January 2009 Ukrainian crisis, whereas Brussels did not take sides or place blame on either side.
In the meantime, Poland obtained EU support for expanding its gas storage capacity by 60%, the press reported.