Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine will resume once the European Commission has signed a deal on the transit of gas and has deployed independent monitors to verify pipeline flow when it starts back up, according to a BBC (www.bbc.co.uk) report.
Russia halted the flow of gas through Ukraine on Jan. 1 in a dispute over pricing that remains unresolved. A deal to resume gas flow through Ukraine appeared to be in place over the weekend, but Russia halted the resumption of gas flow in protest of provisions added to the accord by Ukraine, which allegedly denied that Ukraine owed Russia for past supplies of gas.
Moscow confirmed that the deal has been re-signed by Ukraine with no provisions, according to the BBC, and monitors are being deployed to check pipeline flow when it resumes. The BBC reports that the European Commission said all Russian conditions regarding the transit of it gas to European markets via Ukrainian pipelines have been met, and the commission sees "absolutely no reason not to start gas supplies again."
The EU gets a quarter of its gas supplies from Russia, 80% of which passes through pipelines in the Ukraine, according to the BBC.
To read the full BBC report on this story, click here.
