Ukraine is reliable transit country for Russian gas to EU – European Commission

10:08, 27.11.2015 1 min read

The European Commission is not concerned about gas supplies to Ukraine from Russia, European Commissioner for Energy Miguel Arias Canete said at a press conference on Thursday in Brussels after a meeting of the EU Council for Transport, Telecommunications and Energy.

"Gas stock in Ukraine is larger than last year," he said, adding that gas is coming from neighbor countries and consumption is lower than a year ago.

He said that the protocol for the "winter package" signed in September includes advance payments, and this rule is observed. He said there is no concern as the protocol is implemented.

Ukraine does not buy gas now, but gas is flowing via Ukraine to other countries and it arrives there without problems in a transparent way, he said. Ukraine is the transit country, this is the transit channel which can be trusted, he said.

Canete said that Russia has suspended gas supplies to Ukraine, but the European Union receives gas.