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29th Mar 2024

EU not getting 'one drop' of Russian gas

  • Firewood: people in eastern Europe are turning to more basic ways to heat their homes (Photo: Wikipedia)

Zero Russian gas had reached the EU via Ukraine as of 17:00 pm Brussels time on Tuesday (13 January), as a Russian-Ukrainian transit deal began to unravel amid allegations of "blackmail" and "cynicism."

"Nothing, not one drop has reached the EU," a European Commission spokesman told EUobserver. "High level [diplomatic] contact has resumed and the situation is changing every minute. But there is no gas so far."

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Russia says it restarted EU supplies at 8:30 am Brussels time on Tuesday morning, with a 22-man team of EU monitors in Moscow, Kiev and remote pumping stations reporting a slight increase in pressure in the morning followed by decline.

The latest problem is linked to "technical gas" - the residual gas in Ukrainian pipelines required to enable transportation of Russian gas to the EU.

Under an agreement between Kiev and Moscow, Ukrainian state-owned gas company Naftogaz is obliged to provide the technical gas but has not done so.

"[Naftogaz] declares that these volumes and directions [Russia's renewed EU-bound gas shipments] have not been timely agreed between two operators of the neighbouring gas transport systems," the company said in a statement, calling for a fresh exchange of documents to resolve the problem.

The latest glitch threatens to unmake a transit deal signed by Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission on Monday.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of "cynically" re-directing Tuesday's gas to Ukrainian consumers. The Russian argument is "blackmail," Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko said.

European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso and Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek resumed telephone contact with Moscow and Kiev. The leaders of the worst-hit EU countries - Bulgaria and Slovakia - have announced visits to Moscow.

"The issue of technical gas is no excuse for the lack of full flow to the European Union" a commission spokesman said, adding that Brussels has not been approached to pay for the technical gas.

The EU has so far lived without Russia's Ukraine-shipped gas - about one fifth of EU daily consumption - since last Wednesday, in the worst gas crisis since Ukraine broke from Russian influence in the 2004 Orange Revolution.

Brussels blasts Slovak nuclear move

Mr Barroso has also sent a letter to Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic saying Bratislava's decision to turn on a defunct nuclear reactor at the Jaslovske Bohunice power plant is contrary to the country's 2004 accession treaty.

President Barroso also asked for more information surrounding the decision, with Brussels holding legal fire for now.

The commission has not received an official request from Bulgaria to re-open its Kozloduy nuclear plant, which was also closed as part of its 2006 accession deal.

Article 36 of the Bulgarian accession treaty allows it to restart the unit "under exceptional circumstances." A similar clause for Slovakia has already expired.

Future lessons

The gas crisis has reignited the debate on future EU energy policy.

Of the 18 member states currently affected, Bulgaria and Slovakia have suffered the most due to lack of interconnecting infrastructure enabling neighbouring EU states to pump stocks.

Greece is also heavily reliant on Russian gas, but unlike Bulgaria and Slovakia it has gas reserves to last until the end of the month, with the EU expected to re-examine the question of mandatory gas stocks in the coming months.

The crisis is also likely to provide fresh impetus to the Nabucco gas pipeline project, bypassing Russia and Ukraine, with a high-level meeting on Nabucco planned in Budapest at the end of the month.

'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told

Italian central banker Piero Cipollone in his first monetary policy speech since joining the ECB's board in November, said that the bank should be ready to "swiftly dial back our restrictive monetary policy stance."

Opinion

EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania

Among the largest sources of financing for energy transition of central and eastern European countries, the €60bn Modernisation Fund remains far from the public eye. And perhaps that's one reason it is often used for financing fossil gas projects.

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