to enter service. and stream is about to go live. to gazprom spokesman. to discuss why moscow now faces criticism following the achievement of building the giant gas pipeline spotlight our interview show is next . studio.

europe. europe. the.

european. thank you for coming to our program hello first of all let me congratulate you on the big event stream pipeline has finally been completed and officially launched. the leaders of russia and germany and the prime ministers of france and the netherlands. germany does this mean an end to a period of hard work promotion and litigation for gas problem or does it mark the beginning of a new phase of struggle in this direction in. which of course this is a very significant event and an important landmark in gas problems operations in

europe because today we have greatly improved reliability of supplies of russian gas to european consumers. we now have a third gas transportation channel that will not only help us to avoid crisis situations linked to gas transit through third countries. but it will also substantially improve our technological and technical capacity is and will make us more flexible in reacting to the needs russian gas consumers in europe but the. mystical prion of first far as. the seabed is much more expensive than building a land pipeline the transit gigi's which russia wouldn't pay are unlikely to compensate for the surprise difference in the near future does it mean the gas pumps decision to pump gas on to the baltic sea is politically motivated.

no it's not so. the tariffs for gas transportation under the sea and via land pipeline do not differ very much construction costs are different yes but there are so many other expenses that should be taken into account for example permission to use land for building a ground based pipeline. this is a substantial expanse seitan with a pipeline under the sea we won't need any transit countries and it means that we are going to pay this money to ourselves. gazprom owns fifty percent of north stream shares and it means that we're paying half of transportation costs into our own pockets. thus compensating for the expenses we incurred at the construction stage. so this is a very profitable project that is one of the world's leading financial institutions

and organisations which financed almost seventy percent of the project showed such an interest in it have you calculated long will it take for the project to pace way . it's not going to happen soon but anyway yes pipelines never pay off quickly they're designed to operate for thirty forty or fifty years and the operation model of ventures like north stream is based upon this concept well i mentioned political motives i didn't mean that you were planning to define russia's relations with the european union i mean something different gazprom has recently taken a very tough stance in negotiations with transit countries in particular some even describe its position as uncompromising i would rather stick to the word soft and i think you're going to agree with me after opening an alternative route for transporting russian gas to europe will get position and negotiations get tougher.

no i think it's going to be quite the opposite the transit countries will no longer be able to take such a tough stance against gazprom which as you and i can remember they've tried to do many times is going to be impossible for them to manipulate their unique position of being transit countries any longer. we consider it to be a normal and proper development of the situation. i don't think that anybody could expect transit countries to preserve an eighty percent monopoly on transit of russian gas to european countries i think that the north stream pipeline is an objective reality which everybody has accepted everybody understands that opposing it is unnecessary. and simply impossible. just a couple of weeks ago the number one political news which is on everybody's mouth certainly the rest of you. people in the streets say that's with being thrown into

jail to avoid his guys agreement with russia as a guest from representative do you think about it we'll discuss agreement really be revised remain in force until it officially expires. i think we should separate these things as photo case it has nothing to do with ukraine's gas contracts with russia. believe these two things are insolent they consider them to be the links of one chain well that's what people in the streets say i believe but if we speak about our relations with enough to gossip craney the question has never been posed this way as for the guess agreements because they are in force they were signed and the ukrainian side is implementing them. we have a common understanding that instead of revising the existing contracts we should work together towards a broader agreement that will include the terms of delivery of russian gas where

holding these negotiations but i don't want to go into details now on the whole the talks have been intensive and constructive but there are many serious and complicated issues that ought to be solved so today's very hard to predict whether these negotiations are going to end you don't get your oit's you're prepared to improve your gas relations with the crane but there's no need to bring to revise the existing contracts. it's absolutely true the phase one of the north gas pipeline is meant to put an end to gas supply the. spotlight's reports. build a stream dates back to the ninety's it was not. until six years ago the russia begin to shift the project forward two thousand and five so the first in a series of so-called gas wars between moscow and kiev ukraine used to transit

pipeline running through its territory from russia to europe to blackmail the russian government into given it gas at reduced price says ukraine was also called illegally taking gas from the transit pipeline on more than one occasion unable to reach an agreement with key of russia was poor stupid all gas supplies passing through ukraine in two thousand and nine eighteen european countries will aft with either shut off or reduced gas supplies from russia unwilling to depend on transit countries any longer russia prompted the development of alternative and they just supply routes it came up with nord stream which trans under the baltic sea and has just begun pumping gas to europe and south stream we trans through the black sea and this point to be finished by twenty fifteen both the pipelines reach european consumers directly this year has seen new disputes between russia and ukraine over

gas prices ukraine's ex prime minister yulia tymoshenko was found guilty of abusing the storage of one son in two thousand and nine gas contracts with russia the ukraine currently enjoys a thirty percent discount to the gas price it still insists it's being too much wherever the dispute ends up this year the sperm officials say nordstrom being operational mainstay european consumers have nothing to worry about this time around no russian ukrainian gas conflict can infect the european continent. we've said the lords of the north stream pipeline will help to ensure the security of supply and demand for more boats is a true energy security he's not going to be free until south stream is launched because north and south stream so the change. off course it is true

they are all the links of one chain by having launched no stream we will be able to meet the needs of all consumers in the north of europe. and it's natural that consumers in southeastern europe will get additional opportunities to receive a russian gas only after south stream begins operation of. the construction of south stream is carried out according to plan. working toward a fixed completion date. two thousand and fifteen is a real figure. this is the schedule we have right now will this deadline be met yes of course says. the spokesman. so we'll take a break say we. wealthy

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welcome back to. the love and just. show today. gas promise spokesman. and the first sponsor we mentioned ukraine one of the talks of the town in the press and among the people in that country is the price for natural gas. if you any ukrainian t.v. stations you will hear statements by politicians. at a higher price than anyone else no other country pays as much as ukraine the first question is the treaty true and the second is gazprom ready to cut the price way. early i said that any price console changes to existing contracts should be

discussed as part of the efforts to expand or intensify gratian. if ukraine is willing to do that gazprom is ready to negotiate on the conditions of gas supplies. in terms of absolute figures you could bring it up and argue about it in the media as much as you want. but in reality the natural gas prize for ukraine is command sure eight with the prize paid by its european neighbors. then there's a discount equaling russia's gas exports fee which was agreed in the c.t.o. . sold the price appears to be quite appropriate and affordable for ukraine as we have seen in the past few years. of course all ukrainian parties are

looking for yet cheaper price and that's why they come to moscow regularly school. contract with belarus is due to expire soon but with that country you seem to have gone further in the negotiations agreeing on price cuts in exchange for a stake in beltran's girs the national gas company is that the kind of a bargain that ukraine has refused to accept let's leave the specific conditions of gas supplies to belarus now because. i would like to talk about a new contract on the supplies and transportation of natural gas through. we have seen much faster progress there. and we are confident that as early as november the papers required to close the contracts and intergovernmental agreement will be ready. to repeat my question ees gasper i'm ready to decrease the

price at least if you are specific conditions are met. we're nearing a deal that would satisfy both the russian and the by the russian sides. progress in minsk than in kiev right right thawing move on to the next topic how will share on the european market change after the launch of north stream is a due to rise. in itself north stream is merely a channel for the transportation of a natural gas as for all market share it depends on the volume of the gas sold as you know gazprom sold an additional volume of twenty two billion cubic meters that will be pumped via this pipeline when it's fully up and running we do expect to rise from a quarter to some thirty percent twenty thirty but the share is not the most important thing. you can control the entire market by selling your gas for

nothing but the question is do you really need that. so we're keeping an eye on our market share but boosting it is not our goal it's much more important to maintain reliable supplies to customers along with ensuring our corporate commercial interests. you said south stream will be completed by two thousand and fifteen i heard some reports that the provisions of the third energy package. could disrupt your plans. can you confirm that. well yes there are certain difficulties relating to nordstrom to we have managed to get a kind of an exemption for the pipelines constructed on the territory of the european union by our partners specifically for supplies of natural gas

via nord stream but to tell you the truth it's not a full exemption the same as for the norwegians not quite again it's not a full exemption so some issues still remain unsolved we have been in talks with the european commission we believe gazprom will be able to reach a mutually beneficial deal both on south stream and north stream we hope to sort it out please comment on the following report according to the new. gas from will have to give up its share in the year two is due us within two years time will gas prom seek to disputed comply with a new law. the final decision has not yet been made but without down gas problem reserves the right to file an application to the arbitration institute of the stockholm chamber of commerce this procedure is set forth by the agreement on investment encourage mint which was signed when purchasing a stake in that enterprise. the european union antitrust authorities were reported

to have raided gasper marcus is in europe accusing them of violating the e.u. and to monopoly legislation what was your response to expect any court cases or will some clarifications be sufficient. well first of all no accusations have been brought against us or was it the reason. well the paper checks you mentioned were done on suspicions that there could have been some violations of the european anti monopoly laws anyway it will take the e.u. authorities at least several months to study the documents. similar cases with other companies indicate that it could last as long as several years. the examination will result in an official statement which will either include requirements for a change in corporate practices by

a guest brum or it's of series. contract changes or introduce sanctions certainly at this stage we fully cooperate with the authorities by providing all the documents we are now waiting for the statement after that gazprom will decide whether to comply with it or challenge it in court. for it. the other day a russian engine minister. that's rushing tends to speed up the east for the expansion. meaning energy exports to china. will see rick. plans to develop its span truths the europeans are afraid of that shift because they realize that china is a behemoth of a market for your natural gas in russia they say it will take years before china becomes as reliable and big consumer as europe has traditionally been what's your

assessment does europe need to feel that china will replace it as the primary market of russian gas in the near future. talking of time like to quote the assessment of the chinese government saying that demand for natural gas in china will total some three hundred billion cubic meters in twenty twenty. compared to. its half of the european market. by twenty thirty the chinese market could match that of europe but this is an unofficial assessment does europe need to fear anything maybe they just need to run the business in compliance with existing contracts and expect the same from gazprom gazprom will fully meet his obligations . indeed gazprom is now implementing a large scale east toward expansion program that will allow us to gain a foothold in the region not only in terms of supplies but also in terms of gas

production and processing. the composition of gas extracted there is reacher which will require construction of a number of facilities gas processing plants and gas chemical facilities. so there's a great deal of work outstanding. talking of china we continue. as you know we've been holding the talks for a long time and have not reached an agreement so far but the chinese proverb has it that you shouldn't count miles on your way so if we're going to set any strict deadlines for signing of the contracts and the schedule will not be matched by our chinese. we will end up in an awkward situation at the negotiating table. the talks are underway the size realize they need each other and sooner or later we will agree on conditions that will suit both parties for the chinese have been tough for

the gas prom suit forty billion years dollars in advance payment but they refused can you confirm that is it true that this was the reason why you don't have the funds now to begin the construction of the ultimate gas pipeline. it's not about getting the money we have a valid contract it won't be a problem at all this option was brought up because it allowed for pricing flexibility but it does not contradict anything. does gasper i'm running the risks concerning his projects in libya that's a question that often comes up when talking about the events in the middle east gazprom plans to continue its operations in libya we're implementing a number of projects there. some of them are joint projects with our european partners in particular with germany's being gas and italy's any we know that the italians are returning there so we expect that our operations will

resume to. think very much in good luck thank you for being with us and just a reminder that my guest today. gazprom cuts and that's it for now for all of us here if you're still sports like someone in my think i. will be back with more profound comments on what's going on outside russia until then stay on our team and take.

p. . his. the . rules of. how it.

is to seduce. western europe. with an uninterrupted flow of russia.