Sunday

28th May 2023

EU monitors to end Russia-Ukraine gas war

  • Ukraine pipe: the gas will restart when EU monitors arrive in Ukraine, Gazprom said (Photo: Naftogaz of Ukraine)

The shape of an EU-dominated monitoring team that is to end the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute became clearer on Thursday (8 January), while EU ministers agreed the problem has taken on a Europe-wide political dimension.

"We have an agreement with the EU that when the international observers are in place in Ukraine and have access to the transit stations, we will immediately restore gas supplies to Europe," Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said in Brussels, as the Russian and Ukrainian diplomatic machines hit the EU capital.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The monitoring committee is to comprise European Commission officials, delegates from affected EU companies and staff from the Russian and Ukrainian energy ministries, with 10 EU firms having already confirmed they will take part, Mr Miller explained.

The Gazprom chief said he had given "a relevant document, a protocol" on the mandate of the monitoring mission to EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs. Ukraine officials said they had signed a formal invitation for European Commission staff to enter the country.

Mr Miller and his Ukrainian counterpart, Naftogaz CEO Oleh Dubyna, also talked face-to-face in Brussels on Thursday. But the encounter - in a side room in the European Parliament - failed to see an immediate breakthrough, with the Gazprom chairman afterward attacking Naftogaz.

"Any companies who believe they have suffered as a result of this have the right to sue Ukraine," Mr Miller said.

Eastern European EU states such as Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia have faced a second wintry day on zero gas deliveries, with Bulgarian schools closed and hospitals forced to turn away low-risk patients.

"If things keep going on like this, there is a risk someone may die," a Bulgarian diplomat said.

Russia stopped pumping gas to the EU via Ukraine on Wednesday after accusing Naftogaz of "stealing" supplies, in a long-running price dispute. But Ukraine says the Russian gas simply stopped flowing, with the EU unable to verify who to blame.

No longer just a 'commercial dispute'

EU foreign ministers and deputy foreign ministers meeting in Prague on Thursday framed a joint declaration also calling for independent monitoring of gas transit.

The ministers abandoned the previous European Commission and Czech EU presidency position that the gas crunch is a bilateral commercial problem for Russia and Ukraine.

"There was a general understanding that this is already a political problem for Ukraine, Russia and the EU, especially due to the suffering of EU citizens and the EU economy," a high-level source at the meeting told EUobserver.

Bulgarian Socialist MEP Evgeni Kirilov at a snap meeting of the European Parliament foreign affairs committee indicated the level of political fallout the crisis will have.

"We are in a humanitarian emergency in our country and we are losing millions every day," he said. "I insist an independent investigation find out who is the more irresponsible and that they face severe sanctions."

Gas war casualties

Ukraine deputy prime minister Hryhoriy Nemyria reminded MEPs that when Russia first cut off gas to Ukraine in 2006, 186 Ukrainian people died as a result.

Ukraine MP and ex-foreign minister Boris Tarasyuk painted the gas war as a continuation of Russia's aggression against Georgia, in a campaign to secure power in the EU's post-Soviet neighbours.

"The attempt [by Gazprom] to raise gas prices from $179 [€130 per thousand cubic metres] to $450 is an attempt to destroy the Ukrainian economy and to show the EU who is boss in the shop," Mr Tarasyuk said.

Opinion

How the EU's money for waste went to waste in Lebanon

The EU led support for the waste management crisis in Lebanon, spending around €89m between 2004-2017, with at least €30m spent on 16 solid-waste management facilities. However, it failed to deliver.

Latest News

  1. How the EU's money for waste went to waste in Lebanon
  2. EU criminal complicity in Libya needs recognition, says expert
  3. Europe's missing mails
  4. MEPs to urge block on Hungary taking EU presidency in 2024
  5. PFAS 'forever chemicals' cost society €16 trillion a year
  6. EU will 'react as appropriate' to Russian nukes in Belarus
  7. The EU needs to foster tech — not just regulate it
  8. EU: national energy price-spike measures should end this year

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us