“In the event that an independent gas transportation operator and an independent regulator are not created in Ukraine by January 1, 2020, the only way is to extend the existing contract in new market conditions that have been updated to date,” RIA Novosti quotes RIA Novosti.
He noted that an important issue remains what legislation can be used to conclude a new agreement.
“Ukraine has set itself the task of switching to European legislation ... You know that this procedure is not so fast,” Miller added.
Earlier, the head of Naftogaz, Andrei Kobolev, said he did not see the point in extending the gas contract with Russian Gazprom on existing terms. According to him, the new Ukrainian operator has already handed over to the Russian side a draft inter-operator agreement governing the issue of network connection.
Kobolev added that immediately after the signing of the document, a discussion of available capacities, their quantity, necessary for Gazprom, as well as possible terms and tariffs would follow.
On October 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia was ready to extend the contract with Ukraine for pumping gas for a year if a new agreement was not signed.
An expert Gennady Shmal said in an interview with the FBA “Economics Today” that “if the Ukrainian authorities want, they may well have time to isolate the company - the operator of the gas transmission system from the general Naftogaz system and implement European laws by the end of this year.”