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Three-party gas meeting date not set yet - Ukraine energy minister

BRUSSELS, October 2. /TASS/. The date of a three-party meeting on gas issues involving the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the European Union has not been set yet, Ukraine’s Energy Minister Yury Prodan said in Brussels on Thursday after a meeting with European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger.

Prodan underlined that “Ukraine and the European Commission have no substantial differences, positions are being coordinated between Russia and Ukraine, with the European Commission posing as an intermediary”.

The latest meeting of Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, Prodan and Oettinger on the issue of Ukraine’s gas debt and Russian gas supplies in winter was held on September 26 in Berlin.

Ukraine, which transits Russian gas on to European consumers, currently does not receive Russian gas for its own needs due to an unsettled dispute with Moscow over prices.

Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom on June 16 switched Ukraine’s national oil and gas company Naftogaz to prepayment for gas supplies because Kiev failed to pay part of its gas debt by the deadline of 10:00 Moscow Time on June 16.

Gas supplies to Ukraine for its own needs were halted, but transit volumes were reportedly passing via Ukraine to Europe in line with the schedule.

In late 2008 - early 2009 a gas dispute between Moscow and Kiev saw Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine on January 1, 2009 over unpaid debts. Gas deliveries to European consumers were affected because Ukraine apparently started siphoning off transited gas. The dispute was resolved on January 18, 2009 with a new gas contract that today’s Kiev authorities want revised.