BRUSSELS (AP) - The European Union says Ukraine has promised to make concrete reforms to the way it manages its natural gas sector in return for loans from international lenders.
Ukraine is seeking up to $4.2 billion to pay Russia for gas supplies as it struggles with a severe economic downturn. A payment dispute between the two nations halted European gas deliveries in January, cutting off heating to thousands of homes during a cold snap.
EU spokesman Mark Gray said Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was proposing “a series of commitments with timeframes” to reform the way the country manages the purchase and transport of gas.
He did not give details but said she would discuss the reforms with lenders Thursday.
The EU has sought more transparent and commercial terms for how gas is traded between Russia and Ukraine. Both Russia’s Gazprom OAO and Ukraine’s Naftogaz are owned by their governments, leading to charges that the trade is more about politics than commerce.
Russia is Europe’s biggest foreign supplier of gas. Most of it reaches Europe through pipelines across the Ukraine.
Until January 2009, the transport trade was handled by RosUkrEnergo, a Swiss-based intermediary half-owned by Russia’s Gazprom and half by CentraGas Holding AG, a Vienna-based company controlled by two Ukrainian businessmen.
Under a Russian-Ukrainian deal to resolve last winter’s dispute, Naftogaz now receives Russian gas directly from Gazprom.
