Russia and Ukraine signed a package of documents that will ensure the transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian territory from January 1, 2020. This was announced by Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee.

“After five days of continuous bilateral negotiations in Vienna, final decisions were made and final agreements reached. At the same time, a whole set of agreements and contracts was signed, and these agreements are indeed a big package deal that restored the balance of interests of the parties, ”RIA Novosti quoted Miller as saying.

According to him, the signed documents have already acquired legal force.

At the same time, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky spoke about the financial side of the issue.

“Ukraine has signed a transit contract for five years, during which we will receive at least more than $ 7 billion. The parties can extend the contract for another 10 years,” he wrote on Facebook.

According to Yury Vitrenko, Executive Director of Naftogaz Ukrainy, the contract for the first time in the history of Ukraine was signed on a “download or pay” basis. Vitrenko also said that Naftogaz and Gazprom have signed a dispute settlement agreement providing for the recall of all current claims and complaints.

Recall that on January 1, 2020, the transit agreement between Naftogaz and Gazprom expired over a period of ten years. The parties conducted lengthy negotiations, following which December 20 agreed on a protocol containing the details of the new agreement.

Then, from Thursday, December 26, the Russian and Ukrainian delegations held gas talks in Vienna. On December 29, Gazprom, as well as Ukrainian companies and ministries, joined them.

As the head of Naftogaz Andrei Kobolev informed, in the course of the discussion, the struggle went "for every comma." Kobolev explained that the parties discussed an inter-operator agreement between the OGTSU (LLC Gas Transmission Network Operator of Ukraine) and Gazprom, a settlement agreement that will settle mutual claims between the companies under the 2009 contracts, as well as a transit agreement between Naftogaz and Gazprom ".

According to the protocol, Kiev and Moscow agreed to conclude a new transit contract for a period of five years, during which about 225 billion cubic meters of Russian gas will be pumped through the Ukrainian GTS. The volume of transit through Ukraine should reach 65 billion cubic meters next year, and 40 billion each in 2021–2024. Gazprom will also sign an inter-operator agreement with OGTSU, and a transportation agreement with the Naftogaz of Ukraine on booking capacities of the Ukrainian gas transportation system. This was told by the head of Gazprom Alexei Miller.

If all the agreements are fulfilled, the parties will consider the possibility of direct deliveries of Russian fuel to Ukraine with cost determination based on the price of the European hub NCG “except for a reasonable discount”.

  • RIA News
  • © Maxim Blinov

In addition, the parties agreed to settle mutual claims. The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine withdrew claims to Gazprom in the amount of about $ 7.4 billion, and the Russian company, in turn, paid about $ 2.9 billion on December 27 according to decisions of the Stockholm Arbitration Court. The Ukrainian side also pledged to lift all arrests on Gazprom’s property, assets and funds.

Attending the protocol on December 20, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak noted that Gazprom’s payment of $ 2.9 billion to the Ukrainian side was a “drop in the bucket” compared to potential risks for Russia. According to him, the agreement provides the parties with opportunities for further cooperation if new claims and scandals are avoided.

“The choice is between bad and very bad. $ 2.9 billion for Gazprom, for our country is a difficult decision, but together we can lose much more, incomparably more, ”the Deputy Prime Minister explained later.

Recall that Russian officials have repeatedly emphasized that Russia is not aimed at refusing to transport fuel through Ukrainian territory. As President Vladimir Putin noted, "the issue is not in the territory, but in economic feasibility."

“We have no desire to aggravate the situation in the energy sector and somehow use it to influence the situation in Ukraine itself. We are interested in Ukraine getting a normal resource, and so that our consumers in Europe are calm that we have normal relations with our neighbors and everything will go according to plan, ”Putin said during a large press conference.