KIEV, Oct. 29 – Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov said Ukraine's joining the European Energy Community is an obstacle to the creation of an international gas consortium for the management of Ukraine's gas transport system with involvement of Gazprom.

"There is an idea to create a gas consortium with the participation of Russia and Ukraine or Russia, Ukraine and a European gas consumer, for example some German company. And the creation of such a consortium could help regulate the issue related to restrictions envisaged by the so-called second and third energy packages, which don't give Gazprom a chance to become a member of the gas consortium without some internal restructuring, which is unacceptable for the Russian side," the ambassador told journalists in Kiev on Sunday.