REUTERS
Poroshenko says over a dozen well-known companies show interest in the management of Ukraine's gas transport system.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman says Ukraine is interested in partnership with an influential U.S. or European company for the joint management of its gas transport system (GTS).
"I would like our country to work with a strong player in the European gas market. Therefore, we are seeking partnership with a serious, well-known European or U.S. company for the joint management of the GTS," the Ukrainian government's press service quoted Groysman as saying.
"Our European partners are interested in receiving gas, and we are interested in maintaining volumes, so we are both interested in the joint management," he said.
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The prime minister denied possible disputes in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, over the issue of the joint management. He forecasts that lawmakers will green-light such a proposal.
"Why should parliament object? I am aware that there are those who always disagree. But if we are talking about joint efforts with a well-known international partner and the joint management of the GTS – what is wrong here? The whole world cooperates this way," he added.
In February 2018, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that over a dozen well-known companies had shown interest in the management of Ukraine's gas transport system.
As UNIAN reported earlier, in early November 2016, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a decision on the creation of a new GTS operator, namely PJSC Trunk Gas Pipelines of Ukraine. At the same time, NJSC Naftogaz's management created a new subsidiary, the Operator of the Ukrainian GTS, within the structure of state-run Ukrtransgaz.
Naftogaz believes that the establishment of a new legal entity and the involvement of a European partner in its management are necessary for European companies to be able to buy gas on the eastern border of Ukraine and deliver it to Europe. The measures are expected to maintain gas transit volumes after the current contract between Russia's Gazprom and Ukraine expires.