Poland, Ukraine hail EU ruling curbing Gazprom's Nord Stream access:
By RFE/RL
Gazprom says it is analyzing the legal and commercial consequences of a September 10 court ruling that reduced gas flows via the Opal pipeline, which connects Germany with the Russian state-owned gas company's Nord Stream pipeline, Reuters reports.
The ruling by the EU's top court in Luxembourg reinstated curbs on gas flows through Opal, half-owned by Gazprom, to 35 percent of the capacity of Germany's onshore pipeline extension of Nord Stream 1.
The EU General Court's ruling essentially annulled a European Commission (EC) decision from 2016.
It concluded that the EC had not assessed the impact on Poland's gas-supply security, and therefore breached the EU's "energy solidarity principle" by adopting the decision.
Ukraine and Poland welcomed the decision as a victory that reduces the chances of a gas crisis, particularly in Kyiv, and one that will offer Ukraine leverage in future energy talks with Russia.
"The ruling keeps Poland's and Ukraine's energy security at a high level," said Polish Energy Minister Krzysztof Tchorzewski, whose country challenged the EU's 2016 decision.
Ukraine's state-run Naftogaz oil and gas company called the ruling "a pleasant surprise."
Naftogaz's executive director, Yuriy Vitrenko, said on social media, "I hope that all this is a sign of gradual change in Europe's attitude to Gazprom and Russia's use of gas as an instrument of political influence."
Representatives of the EU, Ukraine, and Russia are scheduled for talks in Brussels on September 19 to discuss the possible extension of Kyiv's gas-transit contract with Russia, which expires on January 1.
They come as Gazprom is pushing to complete the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project by spring 2020, after which it may no longer need Ukraine's pipelines for transit.
Moscow meets a third of Europe's gas needs, much of which flows through Ukraine's Soviet-era pipelines. Fourteen countries receive more than 50 percent of their gas from Russia.
Gazprom had been seeking full access to the Opal pipeline and got 80 percent of its available capacity after the 2016 EC decision.
The September 10 ruling will reduce Gazprom's Nord Stream flows by 12.4 billion cubic meters a year, said PGNiG, Poland's state-run oil and gas company, the country's largest.
The ruling also "improves Ukraine's negotiating position with Russia," PGNiG CEO Piotr Wozniak told Bloomberg.
The EC has two months and 10 days to appeal the court's ruling. (w/Reuters and Bloomberg)
Zelenskiy talks "business" with oligarch Kolomoyskiy:
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
A picture of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was posted on his administration’s Facebook page meeting oligarch and former business associate Ihor Kolomoyskiy on September 10, with a message stating they spoke about "issues of conducting business in Ukraine."
They also focused on the energy industry, the message said, reminding visitors to the page that at a business forum in June, Zelenskiy called on "big business" to invest in infrastructural projects in eastern Ukraine and "help the state resolve social problems."
Zelenskiy, a 41-year-old comedian-turned-politician who has pledged to "break the system" in Ukrainian politics, was elected in April.
Three months later his Servant of the People party took a solid majority of 254 parliamentary seats in the 450-seat legislature, an unprecedented mandate that has set Zelenskiy up to carry out his campaign pledges.
His comedy shows have aired on Kolomoysky's television channel for nearly a decade.
Others seen in the picture include presidential office head Andriy Bohdan, who was Kolomoyskiy's personal lawyer and with whom Zelenskiy flew at least five times starting in January from Kyiv to Tel Aviv, where the oligarch was residing at that time in self-imposed exile.
Also present was Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk, who managed the social-media campaign during Zelenskiy's run for office.
First presidential aide Serhiy Shefir is seen in the picture.
Shefir is a co-founder with Zelenskiy of the Studio Kvartal-95 production company. He is a former director of the studio.