"We conduct a fairly active and, in a positive sense, aggressive policy, and we are trying to capture an important share of the European market and strengthen our position. But it is not accurate to speak of a monopoly, because Gazprom only provides Europe with 25% of its natural gas," Sergei Kupriyanov said in answer to a claim made by a U.S. State Department official.
Kupriyanov was addressing a statement made by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza in the British newspaper The Independent, in which he claimed that Russia was purchasing gas in Central Asia for $100 per 1,000 cubic meters and reselling it to Europe for $300 per 1,000 cubic meters.
"Our interests are clear, and on the whole they do not undermine the economic interests of our European partners," Kupriyanov told the Echo Moskvy radio station.
He said that Bryza's information regarding the resale of Turkmen to Europe gas was inaccurate, as most of it goes to Ukraine and the price charged there is other than the one mentioned by the official.
