REUTERS
Moscow seeks to have relations between Naftogaz and Gazprom normalized.
Ukraine may remain a transit country for Russian gas flowing to Europe after 2019, when the current contract between Naftogaz and Gazprom expires, according to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
The Russian Federation is ready to export fuel through the Ukrainian gas transmission system, but to this end, conditions must be met, which essentially boil down to settling the conflict between Naftogaz and Gazprom in a way beneficial to the Kremlin.
“In short, this is about the settlement between the interested companies, beneficial economic and commercial parameters of the deal,” Medvedev said.
He added that another important condition is a stable political situation in Ukraine.
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As reported, on March 1 came the report that Naftogaz had won arbitration in The Hague recognizing the Russian Federation responsible for the company's loss of assets amid Crimea annexation.
The Ministry of Justice of Russia refused to recognize the arbitration award claiming that the matter lies beyond the court's jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, Naftogaz CCO Yuriy Vitrenko said that Russia's debt to Gazprom’s Ukrainian Naftogaz grew by almost $200 million as Russians failed to comply with the award of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce to pay $2.56 billion to Ukraine.
"We will force Gazprom to execute the arbitration award in the [gas] transit case and pay us $2.6 billion plus interest, which over the year amounted to almost $200 million," said Vitrenko.