PanARMENIAN.Net

EU is seeking agreements on gas shipments with Armenia
10.03.2009 22:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The EU is seeking bilateral agreements on gas
shipments with former Soviet countries including Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus to secure stable supplies, European
Commissioner said.

`Gas should flow even as problem arises,’ said Benita Ferrero-Waldner,
European Commissioner for external relations in a presentation in
London. `We need partners whose governments’ honor contracts.’

A price dispute between Russia and Ukraine over gas supplies blocked
transit shipments to the 27-member EU for two weeks in January. OAO
Gazprom, Russia’s natural-gas exporter, resumed supplies to the
European Union via Ukraine on Jan. 20, after they signed 10-year
natural-gas contracts.

The EU agreements with former Soviet countries would depend on each
country’s role in gas trade, Benita Ferrero-Waldner said. Armenia and
Moldova depend on gas imports for most of their energy needs, while
Ukraine is the major route for Russian gas on the way to Europe. The
potential for EU partnerships would depend on countries’ progress
toward democracy, she said.

The EU will host a conference in Brussels on March 23 to discuss
Ukraine’s gas-transit industry and funding commitments from member
states and international institutions that would go to improve the
safety and quality of the pipelines. The deepening global economic
crisis may complicate efforts to raise money for modernizing Ukraine’s
natural-gas pipeline network, Blomberg Press reports.