A technical meeting has made progress on how to help Ukraine pay for Russian gas, the European Commission said on June 29 after hosting talks with international lenders and representatives from Kiev and Moscow.
"The participants made good progress in identifying the key issues of concern and elements for possible solutions including possible financing arrangements," the European Union (EU)'s executive arm said in a joint statement with international lenders including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
The Commission said the purpose of the Monday meeting, which is of technical nature, was to explore issues related to the payment of gas from Russia by Ukraine and possible needs for further storage of gas.
It was feared that the payment issue would result in another round of gas supply crisis in the EU. Early this year, a gas row between Moscow and Kiev caused a total cut-off of Russian gas supply to several EU countries since Ukraine is main transit for Russian gas to Europe.
Kiev is seeking some 4.2 billion U.S. dollars in loan to help buy gas from Russia and store it underground for winter supply to the EU countries.
The Commission said it had underlined at the meeting the importance of ensuring security of supply and uninterrupted transit to European consumers during the winter period, and would continue to be actively engaged to facilitate a solution.
At the same time, the international partners emphasized that further support to facilitate gas purchases would be conditional upon continuing reform of the Ukrainian gas sector.
"Reform, which is in the interests of the people of Ukraine as well as European consumers, will be a national challenge requiring political consensus and commitment domestically if it is to be successfully implemented," the joint statement said.
Monday's meeting was only part of a longer process of discussions on the Ukraine gas payment issue, and all the parties agreed further contacts would be pursued in the coming weeks.
