Dvorkovich says expects Russian-EU energy cooperation to enhance after Yekaterinburg summit

File Photo of Blue Flame from Natural Gas

(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 21, 2013) Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said he expected political signals on Russian-EU gas and electricity cooperation to come after the Russia-EU Summit in Yekaterinburg.

“I hope we will discuss these issues in detail in the framework of the Russia-EU Summit in less than two weeks in Yekaterinburg,” Dvorkovich said at a briefing in Moscow.

Dvorkovich said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and a number of ministers would participate in the summit. Dvorkovich did not specify whether he would attend the summit.

“Issues related to our collaboration with Europe on all directions – on gas and electricity – will be discussed in detail and political signals will naturally be given after this,” the deputy prime minister said.

When speaking about the intention of some European countries to extract shale gas, Dvorkovich said that the main tendency of the last years after the Fukushima catastrophe was related to the refusal from nuclear power.

“This will lead to a serious change in power balance in Europe in the mid term. The role of gas will certainly grow in such a situation and it is unlikely to be completely substituted with alternative power sources,” Dvorkovich said.

Europe’s wish “to generate at least a part of gas within itself” is natural, Dvorkovich said. “But we always thought and think that Europe cares about the environment more than many other world regions. Though the decision to increase coal imports from the U.S. could show the opposite,” he said.

Dvorkovich said that the Russian side “hopes that the European partners will take environmental considerations into account when making relevant decisions.” The Russian deputy prime minister said that this was Europe’s sovereign policy.

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