Experts about how the Ukraine's gas blackmail of the EU

The statement by the Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk about possibility ofo terminating the transit of Russian gas to Europe under the sanctions against the Kremlin has bothered Brussels in earnest. The EU Energy Commissioner, Guenther Oettinger stated in response that the Ukraine should remain a reliable gas transit country. Experts say about readiness of Kiev to fulfill its threat and how it will affect its relationship with the EU.

The Director of the Institute for Energy Research, Dmitry Marunych notes that if Kiev stops the transit of gas to the EU, it will have the least impact on countries of the North Europe, in which the Russian resource is delivered through Belarus and Nord Stream. "In this case, the main blow will affect the countries of Central and Southern Europe. The economies of Italy, Austria and Turkey will have the greatest problems," - he said. The expert noted that these are precisely the countries that play an important role in the project of construction of the South Stream gas pipeline bypassing the Ukraine.