The European Commission did not put the issue on the Crimean gas on the agenda for the negotiations with Russia, Ukraine, and the European Union, RIA Novosti reports citing EU Commissioner for Energy Gunther Oettinger. The talks were designed to discuss the fuel prices and the Ukrainian debt settlement. According to Oettinger, the accession of Crimea to Russia is still considered unacceptable by the European Union, but there is no time to canvass the problem now.
The commissioner stated that the time is limited, while the Crimean issue might lead the negotiations to a standstill.
Previously, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that Russia should pay Ukraine $1 billion for 2 billion cubic meters of gas belong to Chernomornaftogas, the oil and gas company located in Simferopol, Crimea. The company came under control of the Crimean authorities in March.
The claims the Ukrainian party put forward have no reasonable ground, Chernomornaftogas representative highlighted. The only gas storage in Crimea is able to store merely 1.5 billion cubic meters of fuel. In the meantime, the stockpile is estimated at less than 800 million, the company reports.
