In a carefully staged TV appearance, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin instructed Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller to resume supplies.
"We propose from 10:00 am tomorrow Moscow time (8:00 Brussels time) to start test pumping of gas," Gazprom chief Alexei Miller told Putin. "Agreed. Start working," Putin responded.
The announcement came after millions of Europeans experienced unprecedented hardship for over a week amid rising public anger in the worst-hit countries, including Bulgaria and Slovakia.
The latest development became possible after Ukraine decided yesterday to back down in its attempts to add an annex to the monitoring deal, in which it wanted to claim that it did not owe any payments to Russia (EurActiv 12/01/09).
The EU, Russia and Ukraine had earlier each agreed to send 25 experts to monitor the flow of Russian gas via Ukraine. Russia had accused Ukraine of stealing gas. The monitors will act as arbiters of such allegations.
But the main problems hampering relations between Moscow and Kiev remain. The two sides have not reached agreement over the price of the gas imported by Ukraine from Russia, nor for the transit fees Moscow owes to Kiev. Late payment fines are also yet to be agreed upon. The question of 'technical gas', which must be provided to maintain pressure in the pipelines, also remains unsolved.
Corruption 'core issue'
Perhaps more importantly, a climate of deep mistrust reigns between Moscow and Kiev amid suspicions that the Kremlin wants to undermine Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko, who has been pushing for his country to join NATO. Moscow accuses Yushchenko of corruption over the gas deals.
Putin recently said Ukrainian authorities were fighting "not for the price of gas but for a possibility to maintain one or other intermediaries, so that they can use the proceeds for their personal gain and also get resources for future political campaigns".
But according to analysts, the intermediaries are for the benefit of both client countries and Moscow. In the case of Russia and Ukraine, the intermediary RosUkrEnergo, a secretive company that owns neither gas nor pipelines, still earns 20% of the proceeds from gas sold by Russia to Ukraine.
Similar situations reagrding gas intermediaries also exist in EU countries. In Bulgaria, the intermediary Overgas, 50% owned by Gazprom, hikes prices for consumers by up to 30% compared to what they might be if the state was able to buy gas directly, the daily Monitor wrote.
EU energy ministers held an emergency meeting yesterday in Brussels to try to help countries worst hit by the gas crisis. Bulgaria asked for EUR 400 million in aid to enlarge gas storage facilities and build pipeline links to Greece and Romania, the daily Dnevnik, EurActiv's partner in Bulgaria, writes today.
'Nuclear threat'
Slovakia and Bulgaria had announced their intention to restart units from their nuclear power plants, which were closed as part of their EU accession deals. The Slovak move in particular (EurActiv 12/01/09), which bypassed the consultation stage with the Commission, unleashed a furious row with countries opposed to nuclear power.
A Commission spokesperson said the EU was helping Slovakia with its energy shortages and it would be a "serious violation" if the reactor, closed just two weeks ago, were to be reopened. He did not specify what punitive action the Union might take.
