Gazprom

Ukrainian Economy Minister Yuriy Prodan said "no progress" had been registered in negotiations with Russia over Kiev's debt for gas supplies.

Ukraine could transfer USD 2 B to Russia as early as Thursday after the two countries reached a temporary deal on part of Kiev's gas debts.

Under the new agreement, Ukraine is to pay this week most of what it owes for gas supplies between November 2013 and May 2014, as Russia's Economy Minister Aleksander Novak was qoted by Forbes Russia as saying.

Gazprom's CEO Alexei Miller expects that the contract between Gazprom and China's CNPC could affect the gas prices for Europe, reports the Russian-language version of ITAR-TASS. 

“We suppose that the contract will affect the gas prices for the European market,” Miller said at the  St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday.

Eighteen out of 24 Ukrainian regions have declared they have insufficient amount of liquefied gas (LNG), with Western town and cities most severely affected, local media report.

Russia-China gas deal worth USD 400 billion over 30 years

SHANGHAI -- Russia’s Gazprom and China’s CNPC have agreed on a deal on natural gas supplies to China, Itar-Tass is reporting.

The document was signed on Wednesday in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Shale gas and military expenditures, alongside the Ukraine crisis, were the main issues in meetings of US Vice President Joe Biden with Romanian leaders.

"We discussed shale gas [with Vice President Biden]. It is quite clear that the US is encouraging such exploitation," AGERPRES agency quoted Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta as saying.

Russia's energy giant Gazprom and Chinese CNPC have signed a huge gas deliveries deal estimated at USD 400 B, following talks between state leaders.

The deal is expected to pump 1.14 trillion cubic meters of gas into China over the next thirty years and will provide some 38 bcm yearly, a fourth or fifth of what is delivered to Europe for the same period. 

It is the stable situation in Ukraine that the security of Europe's gas deliveries will depend on, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.

“If the Ukrainian market is stable and if Ukrainians fulfill all of their obligations, Europe will receive what it is entitled to in full,” Medvedev told Bloomberg TV.

The EU Commission has launched a "pilot' procedures against Bulgaria over Sofia's legal amendments regarding the South Stream pipeline and plans to suspend the EDC's licenses.

Despite not being of "penal" essence, the procedures could prompt further measures by the Commission following their results, according to the Bulgarian National Radio.

Russian and Chinese officials are due to strike a deal on Tuesday allowing China to receive Russian gas worth USD 400 B over the next 30 years, a Russian daily reports.