Russia has filed a suit against the Third Energy Package to the World Trade Organization (WTO), a source close to WTO told RBC.
According to the Third Energy Package, the companies involved in gas production cannot be owners of the pipelines located on the EU territory. They must either sell their assets or hand over the pipeline management.
According to the Russian aside, these demands are contrary to the EU obligations in WTO, which are related to the principles of non-discrimination. Russia an EU have two months to solve this issue in WTO. During this time they will hold bilateral consultations and after that Russia could demand convocation of arbitrators.
On April 22, 2014 head of the Russian government Dmitrii Medvedev first spoke about the possibility of filing a suit in the Russian Duma. He explained that as an equal WTO member, Russia could solve the disputes within the framework of this organization, including the one related to the Third Energy Package of the European Union.
The Third Energy Package envisages that one supplier cannot use more than 50% of the pipeline capacity, the remaining capacity must be put up for an action.
But the European Commission’s demands did not scare the Russian officials and Gasprom’s managers. While launching the first gas pumping aggregate on the compressor station of the South Stream gas pipeline, Mikhail Levchenkov, General Director of Gasprominvest, said that such a wide-scale project cannot be stopped by one decision.
The Third Energy Package adopted in 2009 is aimed at liberalization of the gas and electric energy market in the EU. Its main principle is non-discriminative access to infrastructure for all the suppliers, and gas sales and transportation must be separated.
Mikhail Korchemkin, Director of East European Gas Analysis, doubts as to the perspectives of Russia’s suit. The goal of the Energy Package is not to limit, but to develop competition, he told RBC. But Gasprom tries to deprive consumers of an access to the competitors of Russian gas and takes under control the entire chain from the well to the buyer.
