Ukraine-Gazprom.V.Putin.Саммит глав правительств стран.14.01.09.Part 1
The summit of the heads of those states that sustained damage as a result of the gas conflict between Russia and Ukraine.14.01.09.Part 1
Саммит глав правительств стран, пострадавших от газового конфликта между Россией и Украиной.14.01.09.Part 1
Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, I'm very happy to see you in Moscow. I'm glad you so promptly responded to our proposal to come to Russia. Regrettably, the occasion of our meeting is not a happy one. It is linked with the problems involved in the transit of our natural gas to European consumers. The countries that sustained the biggest damage from them are here. We regret what is happening, and we are doing everything on our part to resume transit.
We have met the European Commission's proposals halfway and signed a relevant contract on controlling transit. You know it well. We are, however, disappointed about the way it is being carried out, or rather not being carried out by our Ukrainian partners. Although politicians, including Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko have been continuously making statements that Ukraine is not preventing the transit of Russian natural gas to European consumers, the real situation is quite different.
I'm ready to present you with the relevant documents at this meeting. You will be shown these documents during your trip to Gazprom (I'd like you to go and see what is happening there). I hope you'll have an opportunity to meet international observers. We have every reason to say that we have done everything to resume gas supplies; moreover, we have resumed them.
Allow me to repeat that despite political statements, including those by the President, that Ukraine is not creating obstacles to transit, they are being created at the corporate level. Allow me to show you some documents. Here's a letter to Gazprom from our Ukrainian partners: We would like to note that Russia has supplied gas through the Sudzha station unilaterally, without preliminary agreement.
What does this mean? This means that Ukraine admits that gas is being supplied. This means that Ukraine is preventing the transit of our gas through its territory to you. But this also means that our Ukrainian partners do not accept the document signed by Ukraine, Russia, and the European Commission on the monitoring of gas transit. It has been signed by our Ukrainian colleagues. How can one claim that we supply gas unilaterally if quite recently the Vice President of the Ukrainian government and the top managers of the Ukrainian oil and gas company signed a document on procedures of transit and control over transit?
Our Ukrainian colleagues and friends are telling us that they have problems with the transit of our natural gas to you, but these are not our problems; these are the problems of the transit side, and they should resolve these problems.
We'll talk in more detail during this meeting, and I'm ready to answer all of your questions, and to answer them meticulously. Allow me to repeat once again: I'd like you to visit Gazprom and meet the international observers working there. I'm ready to think together with you of what else the European partners and the European Commission should do to secure the transit of our gas. I believe that officials of the European Commission can exert more influence on the transit country with a view to securing the EU interests.
Zinaida Greceanii: Mr. Putin, I'd like to thank you on behalf of Moldova for inviting us to this meeting for consultations. Moldova regrets very much that we are in a situation where other gas consumers are sustaining losses because of the lack of a bilateral agreement between the Ukrainian and Russian economic agents. You know, we have a contract with Gazprom on gas supplies dating back to 2006, and a contract for gas transit for the same period, which we are successfully carrying out. In principle, we have no problems with Gazprom either concerning transit or payments. We are paying in full for the current consumption and are in constant contact with Gazprom.
At the same time, we had a predicament on January 6, when our gas consumption went down three times. We had to switch practically all our heat and power plants to mazut, which is expensive for us, and is creating a host of problems. We have never made big reserves, because for gas supplies we relied on our joint venture with you, where Gazprom has practically 51%. We were always trusted as a reliable partner, although nobody thought about difficulties.
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