Translated material
Gas in Vienna
Vladimir Putin closed South Stream to Austria
On Saturday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin began his trip to Austria and Italy. The Russian Prime Minister spent two days in Vienna and was also able to watch the finals of the European Judo Championship. Of course, the eye-catching spectacle was not the only, and, moreover, not even the main reason for Mr. Putin’s visit. In the capital of the Republic of Austria, the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers participated in the signing http://red2.vremya.ru/2010/71/252418.html of the latest agreements opening the way to the construction of South Stream. Vladimir Putin once again gave comprehensive justification for the importance of this project.The visit of the Russian Prime Minister began for journalists with the message that the trip would last longer than expected - after Milan, where Vladimir Putin will hold meetings with Silvio Berlusconi, the Russian Prime Minister will go to Kyiv. The program and duration of this visit are still unknown. It is only known that on Tuesday the Verkhovna Rada should ratify the agreement on extending the tenure of the Russian Black Sea Fleet by 25 years from 2017.
Vladimir Putin began his stay in Austria with a photo session with Federal Chancellor Werner Faymann. The most interesting things were expected at the joint press conference of the two heads of government and the signing ceremony of joint documents.
Before signing two agreements (an intergovernmental and an agreement between economic entities) on the construction of South Stream, the Russian Prime Minister took the opportunity to once again justify, not only for the Austrian partners, the full significance of the project. However, the topic of gas supplies was first raised by Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann in his opening speech: “A very important topic is energy security. There were great concerns about the possibility of fulfilling all contracts for energy supplies through Ukraine, but the situation has improved.” Indeed, many in Europe breathed a sigh of relief after the signing of a very unexpected agreement on the supply of Russian gas to Ukraine at a discount, which at the same time means a reduction in tensions over the transit of fuel to Europe.
Thus, given that South Stream was also conceived to improve the reliability of supply, Europeans, it would seem, can relax and not worry. But despite the fact that the cause of previous complications in gas supplies seems to have been eliminated, Europeans are still concerned that Russia still remains the main gas supplier to Europe. And Europe would like to have several independent suppliers in order to better protect itself from surprises. That is why the topic of the Nabucco pipeline arose again. And Austria also intends to participate in this project. So the first question from journalists to the prime ministers concerned the conflict between competing gas pipelines.
In response, Mr. Fayman was terse: “No, we don’t see any conflict.” Vladimir Putin decided to put everything into perspective: “I always hear the same thesis about the need to ensure independence from Russian gas supplies. I always have a counter question: “Why?” We have a good proverb: one does not seek good from good.” The Russian Prime Minister said that natural gas reserves in Russia will be enough for everyone for a hundred years to come. “The question is not at all whether Russia can provide this or not, but about diversifying the ways of delivering this product to consumers in Europe. As for other opportunities, we are not at all against the implementation of these projects. But the question is about resources - how to fill the pipe. Tell me at least one contract that was concluded under Nabucco. We can sign a deal for South Stream even today, but I don’t see anyone willing to sign for Nabucco,” Mr. Putin said.
The last question of the press conference was asked by Russian journalists, who on behalf of all Russians asked about the possibility of abolishing the visa regime with the European Union. And although this issue was not raised at the negotiations, Mr. Putin decided to present his arguments in favor of abolishing visas: “This will significantly facilitate contacts between people and will simply create a single humanitarian European space. But it will also be very important economically. If today, say, in Austria, there are 200 thousand tourists from Russia and in general they play a certain role even in the economy, then there will be at least a million immediately. We have a million in Turkey now. As soon as the visa-free regime is introduced, the arrival of our citizens to the country immediately increases. And the gain is obvious.”
After the press conference, a signing ceremony for agreements on South Stream took place. Austria became the last country to endorse the necessary package of documents to participate in the construction of the gas pipeline. Agreements were concluded at the intergovernmental level and between companies. Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko and the head of the Austrian Ministry of Economy, Reinhold Mitterlehner, signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the creation and operation of a gas pipeline on the territory of the Republic of Austria. After this, the heads of Gazprom and the Austrian OMV, Alexey Miller and Wolfgang Ruttenstorser, also entered into an agreement. It is these companies that will have to implement the project. Thus, South Stream has acquired its final features - the onshore part is planned to be built along two routes: from Bulgaria to Austria through Serbia and Hungary with branches to Croatia and Slovenia, as well as along the southern direction through Greece to Italy.
As Gazprom Chairman Alexey Miller said after the completion of the official ceremonies, the two companies will now have to create a joint venture with equal shares - 50 to 50, which will be registered in Austria. A committee is in the process of being formed to manage the joint venture, where the Russian and Austrian sides will each have two representatives.
The head of Gazprom also noted that the company is working to become a shareholder of the South Stream gas pipeline and the French company EDF (Electricité de France). Completion of all procedures is expected within one and a half to two months. Mr. Miller said that an agreement in principle had already been reached with EDF, but declined to announce the French company's possible share. Let us recall that the entry of a new partner was previously hampered by the “unconstructive”, as it was diplomatically called in the same Gazprom, position of the Italian company ENI, the main partner in the construction of South Stream. Alexey Miller emphasized that now the two partners have “a common vision and position on this issue (EDF entry. - Ed. ).” It can be assumed that the contradictions have been resolved, not least thanks to the intervention of the prime ministers of Russia and Italy, Vladimir Putin and Silvio Berlusconi.
Nevertheless, even before the completion of the formation of the shareholders, the head of Gazprom stated that the project’s implementation dates can be counted from today. And he confirmed that the commissioning of the gas pipeline is scheduled for December 2015.
Alexey Miller also did not shy away from questions on the Ukrainian topic. According to the head of Gazprom, the company has not yet received proposals from Ukraine on possible participation in a consortium to modernize the gas transportation system. Alexey Miller gave an answer in absentia to the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, who stated that the modernization of the Ukrainian gas transportation system could become an alternative to the construction of South Stream. The chairman of the Russian company assured that South Stream will be implemented in any case.
After the business part, on Saturday and Sunday, Vladimir Putin attended judo competitions as part of the European Championship, where he participated in the award ceremony for the winners. The Russian Prime Minister, as a person passionate about this martial arts, watched the fights with pleasure and worry (Mr. Putin found time and watched almost all the finals). Yesterday, the head of the Russian government also honored the memory of the liberators of Vienna by laying a wreath at the monument to the soldiers of the Soviet army.