English

EU does not plan to interfere in Russian-Belarusian gas dispute

The European Union does not intend to interfere in the gas dispute between Russia and Belarus, Jerzy Buzek, president of the European Parliament, said in an interview with Russia's RIA Novosti on June 22, BelaPAN reports.

"We do not interfere in relations between two countries, that is up to Russia and Belarus or Russia and Ukraine to deal with," Dr. Buzek said. "The EU will not be directly involved in the resolution of this conflict."
He expressed hope that the dispute would not affect gas deliveries to Europe.

While meeting with Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko, Dr. Buzek said that the export of Russian gas to Lithuania and the eastern part of Germany had decreased and that there was "no security of Russian gas supplies."

"We have information that the volume of the gas supplied to Europe is lower than expected," Dr. Buzek said.
Mr. Shmatko denied any reduction of gas deliveries in the previous one or two days. "Poland doesn't confirm that pressure in the Yamal-Europe pipeline has decreased," he said. "According to our current information, the European Union should not feel restrictions."

Dr. Buzek said that the European Parliament was ready to send its observers to monitor transit via Belarus. The most important thing is to ensure the security of gas deliveries, he added.

Mr. Shmatko replied that the involvement of foreign observers was unnecessary at the moment and that the dispute would hopefully not last long. Unlike in 2009, when a gas conflict with Ukraine disrupted gas deliveries to Europe, Gazprom currently guarantees compliance with all contractual obligations, as it can use alternative routes to deliver the full amount of gas to its customers, Mr. Shmatko said.