REUTERS
Russian energy minister held talks with the vice president of the European Commission.
Russia is ready to reduce by a quarter the cost of gas for Ukraine and extend the gas transit contract on current terms, that's according to head of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, Alexander Novak.
Following Thursday's talks with Vice-President of the European Commission on the Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic, Novak said: "We are ready to ensure gas supplies to Ukraine, to restore supplies that were discontinued in 2015... Gazprom could ensure a reduction in prices for Ukrainian consumers by 25% from the current level," TASS reports.
According to Novak, Russia is ready to extend the gas transit contract with Ukraine on current terms.
"Russia takes a constructive position here, being ready to extend gas transit via Ukraine and ensure supplies to European consumers. We are ready to renew the contract on current terms. Ukraine is not yet ready in terms of changes to the current legislation to ensure the conclusion of a contract on conditions used in Europe. In fact, the simplest option is to extend the existing contract that was offered to the Ukrainian side," the Russian minister stressed.
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At the same time, Novak described the conditions under which Ukraine's gas transmission system can be used.
"If there is a constructive approach, acceptable, economically competitive tariffs will be offered if relations are settled (litigations in arbitration courts) then, in principle, the transmission system can be used, but we know now that there have been no proposals from the Ukrainian colleagues yet," he noted.
Besides, the minister said Gazprom had offered Ukraine to conclude a settlement agreement.
"On the Russian side, on the part of Gazprom, Ukrainian partners have been invited to consider the possibility of signing a settlement agreement," Novak said.
He also said that Russia and the European Commission agreed in September to discuss the date of the trilateral gas negotiations.
"We suggested discussing what date would be the most appropriate for such consultations to take place. And we have a common understanding that the best time is the second half of September. But to this end, all parties must agree on this date. We agreed that we would discuss the date of the next trilateral meeting (Russia - Ukraine - European Commission consultations) in the second half of September. That's in order to wait for the results of parliamentary elections in Ukraine and wait for the government to be appointed," he concluded.
As reported, in early May, Russia began negotiations with Ukraine on the extension of gas transit. According to the head of Naftogaz, Gazprom will not complete the construction of and launch gas pipelines bypassing Ukraine before the contract expires; at the same time, unlike in 2009, Russia cannot block gas supplies to Ukraine.
At the latest round of talks in Brussels in January, Ukraine and Russia, under the supervision of the European Commission, tried to agree on a new contract for the transit of gas to Europe. The current contract expires on December 31, 2019. Without a new agreement, Ukraine risks as early as next year losing $3 billion, which it gets from pumping gas from Russia to the EU.