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According to the head of Gazprom Alexey Miller,
Russia does not plan to extend its gas transit deal with Ukraine after the
current contract expires in 2019 and European importers will have to buy Russian
gas at the Turkish-Greece border. For instance, contracts between Italian Eni
and Gazprom assume deliveries of Russian gas to the northern border of Italy
until 2035. Now Gazprom plans to move the delivery point far away and wants
the importer to build a new 1500-km pipeline. Moreover,
Alexey Miller threatens to turn off the gas flow if the transmission
facilities are not ready by 2020.
As a matter of
fact, Mr. Miller refers to the situation described in the
Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014:
“If the
President determines that Gazprom is withholding significant natural
gas supplies from member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization, or further withholds significant natural gas supplies
from countries such as Ukraine, Georgia, or Moldova, the President
shall, not later than 45 days after making that determination,
impose the sanction described in subsection (c)(7) and at least one
additional sanction described in subsection (c) with respect to
Gazprom.”
So, “taking
a break” in gas supplies to Italy and other member-states of
NATO is very likely to lead to losing access to foreign financing.
Mikhail Korchemkin
East European Gas
Analysis
Malvern, PA, USA
May 7, 2015
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