Vladimir Putin addressed foreign leaders in a declaration urging the EU to do more to help resolve the Ukrainian gas debt and support the economy of the crisis-hit state.
Dear Colleagues,
In early April we suggested immediate consultations in order to
work out a coordinated approach to stabilize the Ukrainian
economy and ensure stable deliveries and transit of Russian
natural gas in accordance with contractual terms.
Over a month has passed. Consultations with the representatives
of a number of non-EU countries have taken place in Moscow, in
which our partners told us they completely shared our concerns
over the situation with Ukrainian payments for gas deliveries
from the Russian Federation, and risks arising from insufficient
amounts of gas being kept in Ukrainian underground storage.
As regards EU countries, we have only had one meeting in Warsaw
with a delegation led by European Commissioner for Energy Günther
Oettinger, attended also by Ukrainian representative Yuri Prodan.
Unfortunately, we have to say that we have not received any
specific proposals from our partners about how to correct the
situation with the Ukrainian buying company, so that it can meet
its contractual obligations and ensure reliable transit.
Moreover, the situation with payments for Russian gas has only
worsened over this period of time. Gazprom has not received a
single payment for gas supplied to Ukraine, and the total debt
has grown from $2.237 billion to $3.508 billion.
And this despite the fact that Ukraine is in receipt of the first
tranche of the IMF loan, a sum totaling $3.2 billion.
Given the circumstances, the Russian company has issued an
advance invoice for gas deliveries to Ukraine, which is
completely in accordance with the contract, and after June 1 gas
deliveries will be limited to the amount prepaid by the Ukrainian
company.
I would like to emphasize once again that we were forced to make
this decision. The Russian Federation is still open to continue
consultations and work together with European countries in order
to normalize the situation. We also hope that the European
Commission will engage in the dialogue more actively in order to
work out specific and fair solutions that will help steady the
Ukrainian economy.