Letter | Doc. 10795 | 23 January 2006

Peril of using energy supply as an instrument of political pressure

Signatories: Mr Mátyás EÖRSI, Hungary, ALDE ; Mr Levan BERDZENISHVILI, Georgia ; Mr Giorgi BOKERIA, Georgia ; Mr Luc Van den BRANDE, Belgium, EPP/CD ; Ms Anne BRASSEUR, Luxembourg ; Mr John DUPRAZ, Switzerland ; Mr Jan ERTSBORN, Sweden ; Mr Jean-Charles GARDETTO, Monaco, EPP/CD ; Mr Carles GASÒLIBA i BÖHM, Spain ; Mr Marcel GLESENER, Luxembourg ; Mr Harald LEIBRECHT, Germany, ALDE ; Mr Bernard MARQUET, Monaco, ALDE ; Mr Tito MASI, San Marino ; Ms Nino NAKASHIDZÉ, Georgia ; Mr Lluís Maria de PUIG i OLIVE, Spain, SOC ; Mr Johannes RANDEGGER, Switzerland ; Mr Maximilian REIMANN, Switzerland ; Ms Hanne SEVERINSEN, Denmark, ALDE ; Ms Jelleke VEENENDAAL, Netherlands ; Mr Paul WILLE, Belgium

We, undersigned members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,

1. are worried about, after insufficient negotiations, the unilateral decision of Gazprom, supported by the Russian state, to radically decrease the gas supply towards Ukraine on 1st of January;

2. are convinced that it is unacceptable to use the gas supply issue as a tool for influencing the internal politics of an independent state, if not as a political tool to sabotage the so-called “Orange-revolution” as well, and to harm the ambitions of an independent country to move towards Western European structures;

3. are worried about general European gas supplies because a significant part of the European gas supply is provided through the very pipeline, which was closed towards Ukraine;

4. are worried that the decision of Gazprom, supported by the Russian state, may result in an energy crisis in several Council of Europe member countries;

5. are very concerned that the same tool may be used against other states following a political course which is not in line with Russian expectations, thus fearing that the use of energy supply as a tool in politics may bring Europe to a new type of cold war;

6. noticed, at the same time, while Gazprom increased the price of its gas to all of its customers, it made an exception for Byelorussia. Byelorussia is the only country which pays the previous year prices and according to the reasoning of this exception it was mentioned that the plans for creating a joint federal state between the two countries were considered;

7. believe that suppliers have, within a pragmatic, realistic and reasonable bi- or multilateral framework, the legitimate demands that clients pay world market price for their products, including energy, such as gas;

8. are of the opinion that the increase of gas prices must be done in a gradual way, as a result of negotiations among the market participants;

9. call upon Gazprom to continue negotiations with Ukraine on a gradual increase of the gas prices, which would enable Ukraine to pay the negotiated prices;

10. call upon Ukraine to make sure that until a solution is reached, all gas, the destination of which is other countries other than Ukraine, should flow undisturbed via the pipeline in Ukraine;

11. propose to the Assembly to hold an urgent debate under the title of this document during the 2006 January part-session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.