by Kostis Geropoulos*
Oettinger plans to visit Moscow in January to renegotiate South Stream agreements on behalf of several member states. "We have been given a mandate by the member states to negotiate in their name with the Russian partners,” Oettinger reportedly told a meeting of EU energy ministers in Brussels. The countries he is to negotiate on behalf of are Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, Austria, Greece and non-EU member Serbia, which applies EU laws in its energy sector, Oettinger said.
Konstantin Simonov, head of Russia’s National Energy Security Fund (NESF) in Moscow, toldNew Europeon 12 December that this is "good news for Gazprom”. "Usually the European Commission was very restrictive and trying to have very restrictive methods of pressure on Gazprom and now we see that Oettinger is ready for some compromises,” he said.
The European Commission said two weeks ago the bilateral intergovernmental agreements for the construction of South Stream are all in breach of the EU law and need to be renegotiated to address "unbundling” and non-discriminatory third-party access rules.
Simonov reminded that earlier this month, Gazprom opened its representative office inBrussels in the presence of Oettinger. "We see some positive signals. Maybe they can find some compromises,” Simonov said. "If the European Union will begin the pressure on Gazprom the situation can be unpredictable with our gas supply during this winter,” Simonov said.
Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom and Russian President Vladimir Putin are spearheading South Stream in an effort to diversify gas routes within the EU and to provide stable gas supplies from Russia to Central and Southern Europe.
"Now it’s very clear that South Stream will be built by Russia. It’s out of question. Putin is waiting that the European Union will begin to support this project as a reaction on the behaviour of [Ukrainian President Viktor] Yanukovych,” Simonov said.
Ukraine’s decision to suspend efforts to sign an Association Agreement with the EU sparked widespread protests in Ukraine. The Ukrainian government said the decision was made to protect its economic ties to Russia.
"Several years ago it was possible to think that we can solve the problem of gas pipeline system and after it we can sell gas through Ukraine without any serious problems. Now we understood it is impossible and we cannot trust Ukraine and that is why we will begin the construction of South Stream even if we still have some problems with the European Commission,” Simonov said.
European consumers get about 20% of their gas needs met by Russia, much of it through a Soviet-era transmission network in Ukraine. Price disagreements between Russia and Ukraine in 2009 prompted Gazprom to cut gas deliveries through Ukraine, which left European consumers in the cold for several weeks.
Meanwhile, Yanukovychsaid European energy consumers will stay warm this winter as a result of efforts to resolve gas issues with Russia.
"Europe will sleep calmly, in warmth, if Ukraine maintains normal relations with Russia,” National News Agency of Ukraine quoted him as saying on 10 December. "Russia is ready to discuss this [gas contract] issue,” he said.
Russia has concluded bilateral agreements for the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline with Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria. "We see serious differences between the position of the European Union and the position of national governments. We see that national governments can be serious supporters of Gazprom,” Simonov said. "For Gazprom the main problem is South Stream, of course. Because Gazprom wants to see this exemption from the Third Energy Package and we see that national governments try to support Gazprom now,” he said.
* Energy & Russian Affairs Editor of "New Europe" newspaper
(source: New Europe, 13 December, 2013)
