“We ended the contract with the Russians on January 1 and there was a serious risk that we would lose this transit. This would lead to a rise in the price of energy resources for enterprises and citizens and would significantly hit the country's economy, ”Goncharuk quoted NEWSONE during a speech in the Verkhovna Rada with a report on the work of the government.

The Ukrainian prime minister also emphasized that an agreement on gas transit with Russia was reached in a "record" four months.

Yuriy Vitrenko, Naftogaz Ukrainy’s executive director, commenting on Goncharuk’s words on Facebook, clarified that the conclusion of a new gas transit contract with Russia was made possible thanks to agreements with Gazprom on mutual waiver of lawsuits.

At the end of 2019, Russia and Ukraine signed a gas transit agreement, and also agreed to resolve mutual claims.

Ukraine also pledged to lift arrests on Gazprom’s property, assets and funds.