Russia, Ukraine, EU Fail to Reach Agreement in Gas Talks

Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission have failed to reach agreement on the issue of winter gas supplies to Kiev.

The major stumbling block in the 12-hour talks was Ukraine's debt, according to reports of the Bulgarian National Radio.

Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak informed that the three sides had agreed late on Wednesday to continue consultations on Thursday.

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, as cited by ITAR-TASS, warned that the new round of talks could collapse and urged the European Commission to guarantee the payment of Ukraine's debt.

Russia insists that Ukraine pay in advance for 4 billion cubic meters of gas at a price of USD 385 per 1000 cubic meters.

Russia also demands the payment of Ukraine's USD 4.5 B debt for gas supplies already delivered.

The talks in Brussels coincided with decreases in deliveries of Russian gas to several countries in Central Europe.

Bulgaria was also affected by the measure.

Bulgaria's Energy Ministry informed that 1 million cubic meters of gas a day had been taken out of the Chiren underground gas storage for several days in a row.

The Energy Ministry said that there has been no official explanation for the decrease in gas shipments, the unofficial reason being technological problems in Ukraine's infrastructure.