REUTERS
A draft interconnection agreement should be prepared.
NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine has invited the Russian company Gazprom and the European Commission to hold technical consultations for the resumption of negotiations on gas transit shipments through Ukraine after 2019.
"If the Russian side was waiting for the outcome of the parliamentary elections [in Ukraine] for holding the next round of trilateral talks on transit from 2020, then these results are already clear. There will be no OPFL [The Opposition Platform – For Life, a pro-Russia political force in Ukraine] in a coalition and [its leader Yuriy] Boyko will not become Prime Minister. Dreams do not always come true," Executive Director of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine Yuriy Vitrenko wrote on Facebook on July 24. "Therefore now there are no obstacles to setting a date for the next trilateral meeting."
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"Of course, [this is realistic] if the Russian side takes a constructive position regarding further transit, and not just gaining time to continue the construction of Nord Stream 2 and completely stop transit through Ukraine," he added.
"But the main thing is that for such a meeting it would be necessary to hold consultations at the technical level with Gazprom and experts of the European Commission to prepare a draft interconnection agreement and discuss options for booking capacities between Gazprom and the operator of the Ukrainian gas transport system or a gas swap contract between Gazprom and Naftogaz. Then the trilateral meeting at the political level will have a chance of being concluded with the signing of agreements," Vitrenko said.
The recent trilateral gas talks of Ukraine, the EU and Russia took place in Brussels on January 21, 2019.