The European Union has no immediate plans to pass judgement on the mooted energy tie-up between Russia's Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftogaz, dpa cited the European Commissioner for Energy as saying today. The merger would give state-owned Gazprom sole control over supply and transport of gas to the European Union, increasing the bloc's energy dependence on Russia, and signal a shift by Ukraine's newly elected leadership towards closer ties with Moscow. But Germany's Guenther Oettinger said a decision on the plan, proposed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last week, "has to come from Kiev and Moscow, but not from Brussels." "This deal is not a European Union deal," he insisted, speaking at a press conference in Brussels with Ukraine's Energy minister, Yuriy Boyko. Boyko said Putin's offer had to be "very carefully considered," taking into account the national interest of Ukraine as well as that of its partners, Russia and the EU. But he confirmed that Ukraine still intended to pursue EU-driven reforms, pledging approval "in the nearest weeks" of the law on the modernization of the gas sector and confirming Kiev's commitment to join the EU-sponsored Energy Community. Oettinger said it was "too early" to say whether these two objectives - which would entail significant liberalization measures - would be compatible with Gazprom acquiring a monopoly on the Ukrainian gas market. Stressing that "nobody knows" what the content of the Gazprom-Naftogaz deal would be, Oettinger said that he would be able to assess whether it was "on the level of our regulations or not" only once it was signed. "For today there is no reason for any activity of the European Commission," he insisted.
