Gazprom predicts “zero” reliance on Ukraine in the future

Russia’s natural gas export monopoly, OAO Gazprom, has claimed that slated pipeline projects, such as seabed lines directly to the EU, will eliminate the country’s reliance on Ukraine to transit the fuel to Europe.

“South Stream to full capacity, Nord Stream with additional lines and our existing capacity through Belarus and the Black Sea will reduce Ukraine’s importance for transit to zero,” Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said in an e-mailed statement.

Ukraine, through its Soviet-era pipeline network, currently ships as much as 80% of Russia’s Europe-bound gas. Disputes over the cost of Russian gas to Ukraine and its transit led to a halt in supplies to Europe in the winter of 2009. Ukraine is now seeking price reductions from Gazprom.

Recently, in a briefing with Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, Gazprom Chief Executive Alexey Miller accused Ukraine of siphoning gas destined for Europe during a cold snap earlier this year today. Ukraine’s state-run energy company NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy denied the allegation in an e-mailed statement.

Medvedev urged Gazprom to move ahead with the construction of the South Stream pipeline via the Black Sea to the EU starting this December, according to a statement from the Kremlin.

The Nord Stream pipe carries gas from Russia across the bottom of the Baltic Sea to Germany. Both pipelines bypass Belarus and Ukraine. 

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