Russia, EU to discuss South Stream, Gazprom on January 28

Russia will discuss a new basic agreement with the E.U. bearing in mind its WTO membership and an ongoing Eurasian integration, as well as the implementation of the third energy package at a summit in Brussels on January 28, Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters on January 24, Prime has reported.

Russia and the E.U. will also consider disagreements over the implementation of the third energy package and the construction of the South Stream pipeline, Ushakov said.

The E.U. believes that South Stream bilateral agreements between Russia and Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia violate the E.U. legislation. Russia presumes that these intergovernmental accords in terms of international law prevail over the E.U. legislation, which is national, Ushakov said.

The sides will also discuss an antimonopoly probe started in 2012 by the European Commission against Russian gas giant Gazprom. The commission said the company had violated the E.U. rules, which address the markets of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Bulgaria.

Copyright: Prime, 2014