14.01.09

Gazprom still cannot transport gas to Europe due to actions taken by Ukraine, Gazprom official Alexander Medvedev told reporters. "It  looks  like  Ukraine  never intended to open the system," said Medvedev.

Gazprom continues its attempts to pump gas, but "it's at the beginning of the pipeline, not at the end," said Medvedev. "They [Ukraine] have not even opened their export corridor," he said. "Yesterday we believed that the door would be opened to Russian gas, but Ukraine has closed it again," he said.

Medvedev also said Ukraine has not allowed Russian monitors to enter its gas measurement stations.

Medvedev did not rule out that Ukraine may be influenced from the outside, "It looks like they [Ukraine] are not dancing to the music played by Ukraine," he said.

When asked whether Ukraine is blocking the gas supply to Europe at the instruction of the U.S., Medvedev said: "I am not a politician, I'm a businessman." He recalled an agreement signed by Ukraine and the U.S. in December, but did not specify it.

Russia has already informed the European Commission that it is unable to ensure gas transit to Europe from Ukraine, said Medvedev. "We have informed the European Commission that we have not had the possibility to resume [the gas supply]," he said.

Medvedev characterized the situation as extraordinary. "We do not hide that the situation is extraordinary: we cannot transport gas to Europe and we have no contract to supply gas to Ukrainian consumers," he said.

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Source: Interfax