BERLIN, September 26. /ITAR-TASS/. Disruptions in EU gas supplies are possible due to unresolved Russia-Ukraine gas dispute, EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said.
Ukraine needs to buy from 5 billion to 10-12 billion cubic meters of gas to ensure uninterrupted gas transit to Europe. Russian and Ukrainian governments have to give their answer to the new compromise in the gas dispute next week.
Gazprom will supply 5 billion cubic metres of gas to Ukraine within the next few months if Kiev pays its $2 billion debt and makes an advance payment at a price of $385 per 1,000 cubic meters. Oettinger said the agreement would be endorsed by the parties next Monday or Tuesday before they meet again in Berlin at the end of next week to sign a binding protocol.
Ukraine will pay to Russia's Gazprom $2 billion for the supplied gas not later than October and no less than $3 billion till the end of 2014, Oettinger said. He added the final debt settlements would be made after the end of the arbitration proceedings between Ukraine and Russia.
Reverse-flow gas supplies to Ukraine are possible only if they do not run counter to the existing contracts, Oettinger noted. The energy commissioner noted that reverse-flow gas supplies could be technically possible but limited in volume and could not solve the issue of energy security.