TALLINN Jan 5 (Reuters) - The Estonian government has approved draft amendments for the unbundling of natural gas supply and distribution by 2015 to comply with EU directives on the operation of the gas industry, the economy ministry said on Thursday. Estonia, like its neighbours Finland and Latvia, depends on natural gas supplies from Russia's Gazprom. The move opens the way for operators of planned regional liquid natural gas (LNG) terminals to provide alternative supplies. The amendments to legislation will force the monopoly natural gas supplier and distributor, AS Eesti Gaas, to put a gas distribution utility in place by January 2013 and to divest its ownership of that utility by 2015. The dominant shareholders in Eesti Gaas are Gazprom, Germany's E.ON., Finnish utility firm Fortum and Latvia's Itera. The legislation, which must be approved by parliament, would allow the state to fine Eesti Gaas and nationalise the distribution system if the company does not divest it by the deadline. (Reporting by David Mardiste, editing by Jane Baird)

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