EU Gazprom letter promises reassurance

03 May 2006

The European Union on Tuesday 2 May sought to reassure Russian gas giant Gazprom that it was still considered a reliable supplier of energy, writes Jon Eldridge. EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs and Austrian federal minister Martin Bartenstein wrote to Russian energy minister Victor Khristenko in response to recent comments that have been made in Russia regarding the EU energy market. The current Austrian presidency of the EU and the European Commission said in the letter that it recognised that Russia, and Gazprom in particular, was a reliable supplier of natural gas and that EU and Russia must remain in a position of “mutually beneficial interdependence”. Gazprom was reportedly concerned that the EU might block its aspirations to become a global energy supplier, and that it would not take the gas that will result from heavy new investments. “The rules applied to Gazprom will be no different to those applied to these and other companies, notably under the competition rules of the EU Treaty, and that they will be applied in exactly the same manner," the letter said. This article was originally published at ICIS.com.

 

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