Medvedev: EU directives should not block cooperation with Russia

European Union's internal directives should not impede Russian-European energy cooperation, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday after talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Moscow. "In the energy field, everything is good and will be good, if certain directives within the EU do not interfere with the development of a full scale cooperation," Medvedev said. Earlier in October, Medvedev said that EU's Third Energy Package creates problems for gas cooperation between the EU and Russia. The Third Energy Package demands production, transportation and sales of energy must be separated. The package affects Russian gas giant Gazprom's operations in particular, as it produces and sells gas and owns transportation facilities. September, EU authorities initiated searches in Gazprom's European units, which sells, pumps and stores gas in EU member states on suspicion of them being involved in anticompetitive practices, or having information relating to such practices.