Allegations that Russia is moving to take control of gas transportation pipelines in Ukraine are unfounded, the Russian envoy to Europe said
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko told the Financial Times Russia was moving to tarnish the Ukrainian reputation as a gas host nation in order to take "political and commercial control" over national transit systems.
Russian Ambassador to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov described those allegations as "rubbish," saying Ukraine instead needed financial assistance for its transit systems because of years of abandon.
"The fact that the Ukrainian pipeline network was neglected ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union is recognized by everybody," he said.
Chizhov told reporters in Brussels that Russian gas monopoly Gazprom was interested in forming a joint venture with EU and Ukrainian companies to serve as a European gas transport czar.
His comments precede talks Friday in Moscow between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to discuss the fallout from a gas row between Russia and Ukraine that left Europe scrambling for natural gas supplies.
Ukraine hosts the vast majority of Russian natural gas bound for European markets.
Author:
Ksenia Kochneva
