A Snapshot of Key Developments in the External Relations of the Russian Gas Sector
By Jack Sharples, EGF Associate Researcher on the external dimensions of Russian gas

Key points:

• Gazprom and the EU – EU antitrust investigators continue to prepare ‘statement of objections’; Gazprom excluded from expanded EU sanctions list
• Nord Stream – Planned capacity auction for OPAL cancelled, as European Commission postpones ruling indefinitely
• South Stream - Gazprom subsidiary Centrgaz is awarded the construction contract for South Stream in Serbia; Bulgarian government willing to listen to the European Commission over South Stream; European Commission recommends that Serbia halt work on South Stream pending legal clarifications
• Gazprom and Ukraine - Naftogaz and Ukrainian government announce plan to avoid Russian gas imports until March 2015; Ukrainian government and Naftogaz disagree over reports of reduced gas deliveries from Europe to Ukraine; Gazprom and Naftogaz arbitration cases could be combined
• Asia-Pacific region - Gazprom continues design process for proposed Vladivostok LNG terminal
• Elena Burmistrova replaces Alexander Medvedev as Director-General of Gazprom Export

• August 12, 2014

Switzerland on Tuesday added 26 Russians and Ukrainians and 18 organizations to a list designed to prevent it being used as a conduit to circumvent Western sanctions against Russia.

• August 5, 2014

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev threatened on Tuesday to retaliate for the grounding of a subsidiary of national airline Aeroflot because of EU sanctions, with one newspaper reporting that European flights to Asia over Siberia could be banned.

• August 5, 2014

Ukraine said on Monday it was in talks with Moscow over the return of 311 Ukrainian soldiers and border guards who had been forced by fighting with separatists to cross into Russia, but Russian border authorities said the troops were seeking asylum.

• August 4, 2014

An ally of Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russia's business elite would not put pressure him to change tack on Ukraine due to Western sanctions which would only strengthen support for the president's policies.

• August 4, 2014

Germany's Economy Ministry has confirmed it has halted Rheinmetall's (RHMG.DE) export of combat simulation gear to Russia, going beyond recently imposed EU sanctions which block future defense contracts.Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, a Social Democrat (SPD), has blocked the deal which was approved by Germany's previous government, the ministry said.

• August 4, 2014

Russia accused the European Union of double standards on Saturday, saying it had lifted a ban on supplying Ukraine with military technology and equipment "on the quiet" but imposed sanctions on Moscow's defence sector.

• August 2, 2014

A lull in fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists allowed international experts on Saturday to resume their search for human remains at the wreckage of a Malaysian airliner downed in eastern Ukraine last month.

• August 2, 2014