In recent days, Russia has once more threatened the security of Europe’s gas supplies by announcing that it will refuse to pipe gas through Ukraine and will require that a southern alternative be built through Turkey. The European gas supply system has become a vital issue, given Europe’s significant reliance on Russian imports and the conflict arising from Russia’s attacks on Ukraine. Europe depends on gas imports from Russia for 30 percent of its requirements, of which about 40 percent are transported through Ukrainian pipelines.The main deficiency currently is that Gazprom contracts continue to prevent gas swap agreements.The introduction of gas swaps are normal to competitive gas markets and would dramatically improve the security of supply for Ukraine and other EU buyers. It would materially inhibit Russia’s ability to punish targeted countries with selective cuts in supply. Read more at http://www.kyivpost.com
