MOSCOW, December 14. /TASS/. Ukraine is in fact a consumer of Russian gas and also earns revenues through its transit to Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at his combined Direct Line Q&A session and year-end press conference.

"Gazprom honors all of its commitments, including transit [of gas supplies] via Ukraine, and we are also earning money, of course. Ukraine earns [revenues] from transit [fees]; it would sort of seem as if we are not supplying Ukraine [with gas], but in actual fact they are consuming our gas," the president said.

According to Putin, Ukraine's gas network was originally built up back in the Soviet era so that "as soon as our gas enters the territory of Ukraine, it is immediately distributed throughout the country, and what Ukraine accumulated over the summer period in underground gas storage facilities on its western border goes there [to Europe] as if directly from Gazprom, and in this way obligations to consumers are fulfilled."

To date, southern Europe is the main consumer of the Russian gas that transits via Ukraine, the president added. "I must say: Why should we punish Hungary or Slovakia? We have no such goal, and besides they pay [us] money, and decent money at that. Therefore, we have never done anything for political reasons and, in general, we have no plans to do so," Putin stressed.

Turning east

Russia already long ago began increasing gas deliveries to eastern destinations, and this trend was in no way related to the escalation of hostilities in Ukraine, Putin noted. "As for the turn to the east, it occurred - I have said this repeatedly - not because the situation escalated on the Ukrainian track. No, we started doing it a long time ago. The Power of Siberia gas pipeline was not built in connection with Ukraine; its construction started much earlier," he said.

"Why? Because we see the trends in how the world economy is developing, new centers of economic growth are being created, major consumers are appearing there. That is where we direct [our natural resources], where they buy oil, gas and coal. God grant good health to all of these economies that consume our energy resources and pay us money for it. We are thinking about further expansion of supplies to China; we are eyeing other countries as potential consumers," the president concluded.