BRUSSELS, August 1 (RIA Novosti) - The European Commission said the EU and Ukraine have reached an agreement to reform the Ukrainian gas sector, and Kiev will be given an international loan to buy Russian gas.
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Friday evening: "I'm extremely pleased that political agreement has been reached with Ukraine on reform of its gas sector which opens the way for a financial assistance package to be provided by the International Financial Institutions to Ukraine."
"The agreement should provide the stability needed to significantly reduce the risk of a further gas crisis between Ukraine and Russia and therefore provide the security of supply that Member States and our consumers expect," he said.
Ukraine is seeking a syndicated loan of over $4 billion from European banks to help pay its debts to Russian energy giant Gazprom until November 2009. An EC source said earlier that Ukraine could now be given up to half of the sum.
Barroso said in early June it would be difficult for the EU to help Ukraine keep up with its payments.
Russia, which supplies around one quarter of Europe's gas, briefly shut down supplies via Ukraine's pipeline system at the start of the year during a dispute with Kiev over unpaid debt.
The conflict was resolved in January, when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Yulia Tymoshenko, agreed deals on deliveries to and gas transit through Ukraine for 2009.
The ex-Soviet state transits around 80% of Russia's Europe-bound gas.
