Following the meeting with representatives of the Federal Republic of Germany, the executive director of NJSC Naftogaz, Yuriy Vitrenko, announced Kiev's readiness to extend the fuel transit agreement with Gazprom.

The main condition of the Ukrainian side is the fixation in long-term contracts of the volumes of pumping, which now go from the Russian Federation to the EU. 

“The volumes that are now going through Ukraine should be transferred to contracts with European companies for the long term.

Thus, we must get guarantees that transit through Ukraine will be preserved, ”Vitrenko said during a press briefing.

As reported on the website of the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers, on September 14, the Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Galushchenko met with the Secretary of State of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy of Germany Andreas Feicht.

The main topic of the talks was the situation around Nord Stream 2 (SP-2), the construction of which was finally completed on September 10.

Ukraine calls the pipeline Moscow's "geopolitical weapon" and speaks of the need to impose US sanctions on the pipeline.

In talks with his German counterpart, Galuschenko called the SP-2 “the main risk” for the energy stability of Europe and the security of Ukraine.

According to him, the redistribution of transit gas flows supposedly should create a shortage of blue fuel "in a number of European countries."

Galushchenko said that the EU could lose a "reliable, flexible and independent route" in the form of the Ukrainian gas transportation system (GTS).

According to the official, "this will give Russia even more leverage."

"I went for broke"

According to the calculations of the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, about 70% of the GTS are currently not used.

If these capacities are loaded, then the Ukrainian pipeline will be able to pass more than 100 billion cubic meters.

m per year.

However, if SP-2 is launched and other arteries pumping Russian gas are loaded, insignificant volumes of fuel from the Russian Federation will pass through Ukraine in the future.

The maximum level that Kiev can count on will be 10-15 billion cubic meters.

m per year, according to the Ministry of Energy. 

  • GTS facility

  • RIA News

  • © Stringer

Kiev has repeatedly said that they will seek to extend the agreement with the Russian Federation on the transit of fuel through the GTS.

The current five-year contract with Gazprom ends in 2024.

In 2021, according to the terms of the document, 40 billion cubic meters of gas should be pumped through the GTS.

m of Russian gas.

Gazprom undertook to transport a similar volume in 2022-2024.

This contract, as expected by the Ukrainian authorities, will ensure the break-even operation of the highway.

As the deputy general director of the Institute of National Energy Andrei Frolov said in a comment to RT, the agreement reached with Moscow was of a compromise nature.

However, Kiev, against the backdrop of the upcoming launch of Nord Stream 2, began to put forward excessive demands both on Europe, represented by Germany, and on Russia.

“Ukraine, despite its aggressive Russophobic course, wants as much Russian gas to be pumped through it as possible and paid accordingly.

Kiev was defeated trying to stop the construction of the SP-2, and in a certain sense it has now gone all-in, "Frolov explained.

However, according to the expert, Germany is unlikely to agree to large long-term contracts under which Russian gas will be transported through the Ukrainian GTS.

According to him, the buyers of Russian fuel "do not want to bind themselves with long-term obligations with Ukraine."

“The Ukrainians themselves are also behaving inconsistently: they seem to be in favor of liberal values ​​and a market economy, but they refuse fair market competition, realizing in fact that their GTS certainly loses to Nord Stream 2 in terms of commercial efficiency,” he stressed. Frolov.

Moscow views the possibility of extending the contract for the transit of gas through Ukraine as a solution that should be dictated by economic feasibility and profitability.

To date, Gazprom has not announced its intention to completely abandon the use of the Ukrainian GTS.

However, the corporation proceeds from the assumption that only SP-2 will provide European consumers with cheaper gas due to a shorter transit route.

Let us remind you that the capacity of two strings of Nord Stream 2 will amount to 55 billion cubic meters.

m of gas per year.

The pipeline is expected to be operational by 2022.

"In the interests of Western partners"

According to the West, the negative effect on Ukraine from the launch of SP-2 is intended to compensate for the deal that Washington and Berlin concluded this summer during negotiations between US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The agreement provides that Germany will make efforts to sign a ten-year contract for the transit of Russian gas through the GTS.

However, the parties did not indicate the volume of pumping.

Along with this, Berlin should support the development of Ukrainian green energy with investments.

The Federal Republic of Germany will allocate at least $ 1 billion for these needs.

  • Laying of pipes "Nord Stream - 2"

  • Reuters

  • © Nord Stream 2 / Handout

Kiev is not satisfied with the terms of the deal.

At the end of July, the country's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, Olga Stefanishina, spoke out against her.

She noted that Western countries should provide Kiev with security guarantees, including NATO membership.

In August, in an interview with the German media group Funke, shortly before meeting with Merkel and Biden, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also announced that he opposed the German-American agreements.

On September 1, the Ukrainian leader met with the head of the White House, but Washington did not adjust its position on the deal.

Despite this, Kiev continues to seek guarantees of maintaining large volumes of Russian gas pumping.

“The guarantees that Ukraine really needs are not some papers signed by politicians, but contracts with European companies for transit.

But if there are no such contracts, if Gazprom continues to block the access of third parties, European companies to transit through Ukraine, then there should be sanctions, ”Yuriy Vitrenko said on the air of the 1 + 1 TV channel in early September.

In an interview with RT, Ukrainian political scientist, director of the Institute for Analysis and Policy Management Ruslan Bortnik explained Kiev's nervousness with the understanding that Europe "is not ready to sign a contract for the supply of energy resources" through the Ukrainian GTS after 2024.

According to the expert, the German-American deal does not provide Kiev with any guarantees of maintaining gas pumping.

According to Bortnik, in recent years Ukraine has been earning about $ 2-4 billion annually on fuel transit from the Russian Federation and is at risk of losing this income.

“The compensatory mechanisms in the deal between Merkel and Biden mostly work in the interests of Western partners.

And they are not legally fixed.

This deal is a joint statement, memorandum.

There are no obligations in it, and it does not entail real consequences, "Bortnik explained.

According to the analyst, Kiev found itself in a "stalemate".

To save face, the Ukrainian leadership at various sites insistently declares the need to extend the transit.

However, as noted by Bortnik, Kiev "does not have enough strength to exert appropriate pressure on European partners."

“The most important thing is that the West makes decisions on gas, ignoring the position of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, time plays into the hands of Moscow.

Russia says that it is ready to extend the contract, but only if the Europeans guarantee consumption, but there is no such confidence, ”Bortnik stated.

  • Gas transmission infrastructure junction of Ukraine

  • Reuters

  • © Gleb Garanich

Andrei Frolov also believes that Kiev is unable to offer Moscow and Europe truly lucrative commercial offers for gas transit.

The key reason for this state of affairs is the obsolescence of the GTS.

“The gas transportation infrastructure of Ukraine is catastrophically underfunded.

It is difficult to keep it in working order.

By and large, Kiev still operates the GTS because of the colossal safety margin that was laid by Soviet engineers, "Frolov emphasized.

From the point of view of the interlocutor of RT, the situation that Ukraine has got into regarding the transit of Russian gas is a direct consequence of the degradation of the country's political elite.

“Ukraine, as before, shifts the responsibility to other states.

On the whole, the legal capacity of its ruling class raises many questions.

The events that we observe in the issue of gas transit are only a reflection of the degradation of the intellectual qualities of the Kiev elite, "Frolov summed up.