Ukraine, Croatia to sign memorandum on Adriatic Gas Corridor on November 5
Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and his Croatian counterpart Zoran Milanovic are on November 5 to sign a memorandum on the creation of the Adriatic Gas Corridor, which will connect Ukraine, Hungary, and Croatia.
"Croatian Prime Minister will make an official visit to Ukraine tomorrow [November 5], and we are planning to sign a memorandum under which an LNG terminal and a pipeline will be constructed on the Adriatic Coast," Azarov said at a meeting with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland on Monday, according to the Web site of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
He also said that in the last three years of the 2009 gas contract between Ukraine and Russia being in effect Ukraine has overpaid $20 billion to Russia, and for this reason Ukraine has to diversify the supplies of energy sources, produce hydrocarbons from alternative sources, and switch its energy sphere to burning coal.
"We set ourselves the task of significantly reducing our dependence on gas supplies from Russia. We've taken a number of steps in order to increase our own gas output. In particular, we've held talks with big companies - Shell, ExxonMobil, and Chevron – and we've drawn up relevant agreements with all of these companies. We have thoroughly learned experience of the United States in production of shale gas and we expect that shale gas fields will allow us to produce from 10 to 20 billion cubic meters of gas (bcm) in future," Azarov said.
The sides also discussed Ukraine's aspirations for European integration. Nuland said that the U.S. oil companies support the signing of the Association Agreement, as it could allow them to increase production in Ukraine and sell these products to the EU free of duties.
"The EU won't sign the Association Agreement just because they are 'good guys'. They are interested in opening access for high quality goods to their market as well as for workforce and innovations to their enterprises. And our companies want to see the Association Agreement and an agreement with the IMF, as in that case they will be able to produce more products here and sell them to Europe," Nuland said.
