Alexander Kuranov. Gas supplies from Russia to bypass Ukraine in breach of the contract of Gazprom's European partners on delivery of fuel, said on the first day of the week, the Vice-President of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic.

"the European Commission is considering new Russian gas Project" Turkish stream as a purely political decision just for the sake of bypassing Ukraine. But in this case violated the contract, Gazprom's European partners on delivery of fuel, which provides whatever, But not the Turkish-Greek border, " said Sevcovic, speaking in Bratislava.

Russia in early December announced the abandonment of the project of the gas pipeline " South stream ", which was obliged to pass under the Black sea through Bulgaria to deliver fuel in the Balkan Republic and Hungary, Austria and Italy. The project was minimized, and among them due to the unconstructive position of the European Union. Instead it was decided to build a pipe in Turkey and to make on a boundary line with Greece's gas hub for customers in southern Europe.

"Costs" Turkish stream are considered in the Russian Federation in the $ 40-45 billion. This is an enormous amount. One wonders do need to spend so much just to be around your nearest neighbor? If the story is about the delivery of gas from Russia to Turkey, this issue can be solved independently from the fate route through Ukraine, " he said.

Touching peace agreements in Ukraine reached during the recent talks in Minsk, Sefcovic said that among them there is a specific paragraph about what ought to return to negotiations in the tripartite format (Russia, Ukraine, European Commission) on gas supplies to Ukraine and European countries.

"At the end of March marks the completion of the interim agreement on gas supplies from Russia to Ukraine in the winter, according to which Kiev from the capital of Russia was given a discount of $ 100 per thousand cubic meters," said the Commissioner, expressing hope that the parties will be able to work out a compromise solution and supplies for the summer-autumn period.

sections: Politics