Interfax's Interview

 Russian permanent representative at the EU  Vladimir Chizhov has criticized what he called attempts by certain European Union members to push unprofitable projects for the sake of competing with Russian oil and gas pipelines.

 "We are witnessing cases of often a priori unprofitable projects being persistently pushed through only to create competition for Russian pipelines. I view this behavior as indecent of great powers," Chizhov told Interfax in the run-up to the Russia-EU summit scheduled for May 17-18 in Samara.

 Russia believes the diversification of energy supply routes strengthens energy stability, Chizhov said. "This is why we are building the Nord Stream pipeline on the Baltic Sea floor, this is why we built the Blue Stream pipeline on the Black Sea floor, and this is why we have just reached an agreement to build a new gas pipeline from Central Asia to Central Europe through Russia. Considering the growing needs, we need more pipes, because the throughput of each pipe is limited," he said.

 "Certain attempts are being made to politicize this issue," Chizhov said. "This causes regret, because we believe there should be no attempts to politicize them," he said.
 Russia has proven its reputation as a reliable supplier over the entire history of its energy cooperation with other countries, Chizhov said.

 "Russia will continue to supply energy to the EU in the amounts stipulated by relevant agreements," he said.

 Chizhov reiterated Russia's position regarding the Energy Charter Treaty, implying that it would be counterproductive to focus on the document.

 "I personally believe it would be counterproductive to focus excessively on this document. The European Union and we plan to work on a strategic partnership treaty. There are various ways to reflect our common vision of energy security and prospects of cooperation in this area. Becoming fixated on the Energy Charter Treaty is unconstructive," Chizhov said.

 The diplomat insisted on distinguishing between the Energy Charter and the Energy Charter Treaty. "The Energy Charter is a document regulating a process in which we are actively involved and will continue to be involved," he said.

 Chizhov also described as hypocritical the European Union's position on the Russian-Estonian conflict over the removal of a monument to Soviet soldiers in Tallinn and the reburial of the remains of Soviet soldiers killed in Estonia during WWII.

 "I believe the European Union assumed a hypocritical position in this situation. Its response to what happened in Tallinn was quite weak, but it reacted quite actively to what happened in Moscow in response to the events in Estonia. It appears that the principle of the internal EU solidarity is more important than pure objectivity, not to mention cooperation with Russia," Chizhov said.

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