Russia has been forced to adapt to new rules set by the West, as stated by Chairman of the Gazprom Board of Directors Alexey Miller, adding that the topic of the South Stream was closed for good and gas transit through Ukraine will end. Russia and Europe will resume the energy dialogue, their foreign ministers will meet on January 19.
Miller said that the Turkish Stream will be the only route to deliver the 63 billion cubic meters of gas transported through Ukraine. He noted that Europe will complete the rest of the gas infrastructure.
Gennady Shmal, the president of the Union of Oil and Gas Producers of Russia, assured that there was no chance of ending gas transit through Ukraine, even if South Stream was put into commission. He admitted that the project was a priority, reminding that it had outlived the Nabucco competitive project due to low gas volumes and slow development of Shah Deniz in Azerbaijan. Shmal speculated that the new South Stream could go through Bulgaria or Romania.
Europe needs at least 170 billion cubic meters of gas, according to his estimates. He assumes that a pipeline through Turkey would solve all European gas problems for a long time. The expert reminded that the UK and Norway were reducing gas extraction, gas from Africa and the Middle East was more expensive, American shale gas would not be cheaper than Russian. Shmal believes that Europe will buy the Russian gas that Greece, Croatia, Serbia, Italy and Austria need.
