Europese gaswaarnemers blijven tot eind april in Rusland en Oekraïne (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU monitors are to stay in Russia and Ukraine until at least April amid ongoing concern about the stability of a new gas transit deal, in working conditions marked by freezing cold, slices of pig fat and packs of barking dogs.

"The [gas crisis] wound is recent. It has not yet scarred over and we are still in the middle of winter," European Commission energy spokesman Ferran Tarradelas Espuny told EUobserver.

A task force of 22 EU gas company experts and European Commission "diplomats" set out for 10 gas stations in Russia and Ukraine on 8 January at the height of the supply crunch.

Gas flow resumed on 20 January after Moscow and Kiev agreed new prices for Ukraine gas and transit. But Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko continues to grumble about the agreement, with about six EU monitors still in place as Brussels works on details of a more long term operation.

Moscow and Kiev have agreed to extend the EU mission even though some Ukraine diplomats fear it could lead to permanent international control of Ukraine gas transit, as part of a Russian plan to grab a stake in their pipelines.

"I don't see how a mission like this, which has a very clear mandate, can have anything to do with grabbing infrastructure," the head of the EU gas monitoring team, Filip Cornelis, said. "I don't think it's a very rational point of view."

The mission's "terms of reference" say that EU, Ukraine and Russian officials will have access to gas facilities "for as long as needed" and will report data on flows and underground storage "in real time to competent bodies in Brussels, Moscow and Kiev."

Mr Cornelis' role in Kiev in January saw him try to shield EU experts from Russian and Ukrainian media, keen to spin every word to show the European Union was blaming one or the other side. "In the beginning, it was very tense," he said.

But high-stakes politics did not play a role in the day-to-day work of the monitors, who kept up with the big news by radio and TV while watching empty pipes in remote destinations on Europe's eastern fringe.

Ukrainian pig fat

Gas sales expert Johann Haumer from Austrian firm Econgas went to Ukraine's Uzhgorod facility on the Slovak border with Oleg Antonov from Russian firm Gazprom and Igor Gordienko of Ukrtransgaz.

"Oleg and Igor knew each other very well. They've been working together without any problems for 30 years," Mr Haumer said. "Their job is to keep measuring equipment in a proper state and they are not so concerned with politics."

As Russia and Ukraine leaders traded insults on 18 January, Uzhgorod gave the EU man a warm send off before his replacement arrived. "The Russian guy brought sala [Ukrainian pig fat] and the Ukrainian guy brought vodka for a sort of farewell party. Then we signed the protocols and I left," Mr Haumer said.

It was minus 14 degrees Celsius when engineer Christina Fenin from German firm VNG arrived at "the end of the world" - Russia's Platovo station on Ukraine's eastern border, 2,000 km from Berlin.

'Didn't expect a woman'

"It was a little difficult for me because I am a woman and they are all men. They didn't expect a woman," she said. "They brought me chocolates and they made me lots of tea."

The Platovo facility was technically up to scratch, neatly painted and clean. But with no phone line, fax machine or scanner, Ms Fenin had to take a digital photograph of the signed monitoring protocol and email it to Brussels to start work.

"It was hard to get reception for my mobile [to report back to Brussels]," Ms Fenin said. "I had to go out into a field or into the street in the village, but then I was surrounded by groups of barking dogs."