REUTERS
The final trilateral meeting between Russia, Ukraine and the European Union on gas transit via Ukraine can be held in September-October 2019, Russian official said.
The Russian Federation's Energy Ministry says it expects that Russia and Ukraine will be able to agree on extending the contract for gas transit shipments through Ukraine to the European Union after 2019, when the current document expires.
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"We expect that, to some extent, we will be able to reach an agreement with Ukraine on the transit of gas after 2019. If this does not happen in May, it will probably happen in October," Russia's Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky told journalists on March 23, as reported by the Russian news agency TASS.
Yanovsky also added that the final trilateral meeting between Russia, Ukraine and the European Union on gas transit through the territory of Ukraine could be held in September-October 2019. At the moment, the next meeting is scheduled for May.
"According to the plan, I should meet with them in May. I'll also meet with them within the tripartite framework this fall, in September-October," he said.
UNIAN memo. The current transit contract between Ukraine and Gazprom was signed in 2009 for a period of 10 years. After its expiry (from 2020), the Russian monopolist plans to minimize its gas transit through the Ukrainian territory.