REUTERS
Ukraine at trilateral gas transit talks stands against discussing direct gas supplies along with the arbitration settlement between Gazprom and Naftogaz.
Ukraine has rejected the proposal of the Russian side to tie to the gas transit talks the issue of direct gas supplies from Russia to Ukraine and the settlement of arbitration proceedings between Gazprom and Naftogaz, that's according to Minister of Energy and Environmental Protection of Ukraine Oleksiy Orzhel.
Commenting on the outcome of the latest round of gas talks held in Brussels Monday with the mediation of the European Commission, Orzhel said: "Another important point that was considered today is some positions of the Russian side on arbitrations and volumes of direct deliveries. This is the so-called package position element. At the same time, I'd like to confirm that the issue of the transit deal is not directly related to the issue of other package agreements. If we talk about package arrangements, they should be built on bilateral interests. Moreover, in this case, we protect the interests of Ukraine with regard to arbitrations and direct gas supplies to Ukraine by the Russian side," the minister said.
Read alsoUkraine supports EC's proposal for new gas transit with Russia – Minister Orzhel
"Issues of package agreements should be developed within the framework of bilateral cooperation between companies, as well as upon reaching a mutually beneficial position," he added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on October 28 in Brussels, trilateral negotiations were held on gas transit via the territory of Ukraine after January 1, 2020. The previous meeting took place on Sept 19.
UNIAN memo. Since November 2015, Ukraine has not imported gas directly from Russia. At the end of February 2018, Russia's energy monopoly Gazprom lost a lawsuit to Naftogaz in the Stockholm arbitration under a transit contract. The arbitration award obliged the Russian company to pay $4.6 billion to the Ukrainian side. Given the arbitration decision on the gas supply contract, the final amount of settlement between companies stands at $2.6 billion in favor of Naftogaz.
In the summer of 2018, Naftogaz filed a new lawsuit with the Stockholm Arbitration Court demanding that it revise the tariff for natural gas transit under a contract with Gazprom.
Naftogaz requires a tariff review from March 2018 to the end of 2019 and tentatively estimated its monetary claims at about $12 billion.