Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said his country will not curb gas exports to Europe this winter to prevent countries from re-exporting supplies to Ukraine.
“That is ruled out,” Austrian newspaper Die Presse quoted him as saying on September 18. He was responding to a question whether Moscow would limit gas exports to curb supplies to Ukraine, whose deliveries from Russia have been cut off since mid-June in a row over prices.
Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said on September 17 it is unable to meet rising gas demand from Europe while it builds up stockpiles ahead of winter, undermining the ability of Europe to supply Ukraine with gas. Slovakia, Poland, Romania and Austria have reported slight falls in shipments in recent days from Russia, which is embroiled in a dispute with the EU over Ukraine.
But Novak denied Russia was “playing games” with gas exports. “More (gas) was ordered than normal in recent days and Gazprom did not fully cover the higher demand,” he said.
Meanwhile, Novak said that a trilateral gas meeting between Russia, the EU, and Ukraine may be held in Berlin on September 26. “We are discussing plans for the three-party talks in Berlin on September 26,” Novak told reporters on the sidelines of the Sochi Investment Forum on September 19, adding that Kiev and the EU are satisfied with this date.
The Russian energy ministry has previously rejected an EU proposal to hold a trilateral gas meeting on September 20, as this date coincided with the Sochi economic forum. Moscow has earlier proposed holding the meeting on September 6.
The previous discussions, launched on May 2, that involved EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger, Novak and his Ukrainian counterpart Yuriy Prodan, ended on June 16 with no result.
Ukraine’s Naftogaz and Gazprom later filed mutual claims to the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal.
Ukraine currently does not receive Russian gas over an unsettled dispute over gas prices.
The Russian Energy Minister also said he believed the price of oil would firm at around $100 per barrel by the end of 2014, after a significant drop over recent months has seen the price of Brent Crude drop below $100, according to Die Presse. The falling price has come amid weakening demand in China and increased supply from oil producers including Iraq, Libya and Iran. Oil is Russia’s biggest source of export revenues.