Ukraine hopes for international loans watered down: EU official
(BRUSSELS) - Ukraine will have to settle for far less than the 4.2 billion dollars in loans from international lenders that Kiev is seeking to pay for Russian natural gas, an EU official said on Monday.
"We dont believe 4.2 billion dollars (3.0 billion euros) is the figure needed," an EU official said on condition of anonymity, after a meeting in Brussels.
"All parties are looking for a sustainable solution, nobody is looking for a crisis," the official said.
Earlier this month, Kiev said that it needed the sum to help pay for gas to fill its gas storage facilities ahead of the peak winter demand period in order to avert a new gas crisis.
The source said that international lending institutions were working on the basis of offering around half the 4.2 billion dollars sought by Ukraine.
The European Commission hosted officials from Ukraine and Russia as well as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
After the meeting, the commission issued a statement saying that the different sides had agreed to pursue the talks in "the coming weeks."
The European Union is particularly interested in seeing that the tanks get filled because a quarter of its gas consumption is met with Russian supplies, 80 percent of which transits through Ukraine's pipeline network.
As a result, Brussels is eager to avert a new crisis after supplies crucial for winter heating were cut off in the dead of winter in January in Europe amid a payment dispute between Moscow and Kiev.
"The European Commission has underlined the importance of ensuring security of supply and uninterrupted transit to European consumers during the winter period and will continue to be actively engaged to facilitate a solution," the EU's executive arm said in its statement.
"At the same time, the international partners emphasised that further support to facilitate gas purchases would be conditional upon continuing reform of the gas sector," it added.
The EU official said that international lenders wanted Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz to be more transparent.
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