The proposal made by Gazprom to extend the existing gas transit contract or to conclude a new agreement is unacceptable to the Ukrainian side. This was announced on the air of the program “Freedom of Speech” on the ICTV channel by the Minister of Energy of Ukraine Oleksiy Orzhel.
“Let's be honest. The proposal, which has just been received, is unacceptable for Ukraine, given the fact that it is necessary to abandon arbitration and sign an agreement for only one year of use of our gas transmission system, ”Orzhel said.
According to him, the Russian corporation and NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy should reach some consensus on some form of extension of the current transit contract, which expires on December 31.
“If we accept in some form our requirements for arbitration, if we sign a long-term contract, we can seek compromises. I hope that Gazprom can make the same compromise, the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy explained.
In turn, the executive director of Naftogaz Yuri Vitrenko pointed out the need to continue tripartite negotiations with the participation of the European Commission.
“We will also discuss the latest proposal of Gazprom transparently in a trilateral format with our European partners in order to ensure fair European conditions for the continuation of transit,” he said.
According to him, Kiev is working out a possible scenario for stopping the transportation of blue fuel through the country. In this case, Naftogaz intends to seek compensation from Gazprom in the amount of $ 11.8 billion plus interest.
- RIA News
The day before, the Russian corporation sent its Ukrainian partners an official proposal to extend the current agreement or conclude a new contract on gas transit through Ukraine for a period of one year. At the same time, a prerequisite for the continuation of transit is the mutual rejection of claims by the parties in the courts and antitrust authorities. So, from the Ukrainian side we are talking about the claims of Naftogaz to Gazprom for a total of $ 22 billion.
In addition, Moscow is awaiting Kiev’s decision regarding direct purchases of blue fuel from 2020, and the Ukrainian side can count on a 25% discount on this issue.
“Ukraine wants to regulate this according to Ukrainian laws - please, we are ready. Ukraine wants to regulate according to European laws, it has committed itself to adopt European legislation - we are ready, please, ”said Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 14.
The last round of trilateral consultations in the Russia-European Union-Ukraine format was held on October 28 in Brussels. Following its results, Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak said that all participants are set to continue the transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian territory after 2020. However, the deputy head of the European Commission Marosh Shefchovich expressed disappointment with the outcome of the negotiations and urged not to delay reaching agreements.
“We can expect the scenario of another gas war”
As the leading expert of the National Energy Security Fund, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of Russia, Stanislav Mitrakhovich, noted, the Ukrainian side is aimed at concluding a new transit agreement for several years, which stipulates the pumping of about 60 billion cubic meters of gas, but such conditions are unacceptable for Russia.
“Bypass gas pipelines are under construction and such large volumes of pumping through Ukraine are simply not needed. Moreover, we do not have a clear understanding of the fact that in the future relations with Ukraine will be built in a constructive manner. Rather, we have concerns that relations will be difficult in the coming years. If there is no progress during the negotiations, then the scenario of the next gas war may await us, ”the source said.
In Ukraine, they believe that they have the opportunity to confirm their claims against Gazprom and will be able to recover the billions of dollars in claims, said Alexey Grivach, deputy director general of the National Energy Security Fund.
“But any reasonable person understands that in order to build mutually beneficial long-term relationships and somehow get out of this clinch, the issue of mutual judicial claims, which take homeric forms, should be removed from the agenda. So far they have said that they cannot react because there is no formal proposal. Here it is, ”he said on Sputnik Radio.