REUTERS
The existing open disputes, as well as the absence of a gas supply contract from 2020, are far-fetched issues on the way of concluding a new gas transit contract.
Executive Director of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine Yuriy Vitrenko says the new contract between Russian Gazprom an a gas transmission system operator independent from Naftogaz of Ukraine, which will appear as a result of the completion of the unbundling, will allow starting from scratch the Ukraine-Russia relations on gas transit.
"The existing open disputes between Gazprom and Naftogaz, as well as the absence of a gas supply contract between us from 2020, are all far-fetched issues on the way of concluding a new gas transit contract. That's at least because the new contract shall be concluded by a separate gas transmission system operator rather than Naftogaz," Vitrenko wrote on Facebook.
According to Vitrenko, this is a consequence of "unbundling" that many are now discussing.
"That is, if Gazprom and Russia's political leadership really wish to start relations on transit from scratch, a contract with a separate operator offers precisely such an option," he said.
Read alsoNaftogaz seeks to recover from Gazprom $3 bln before end of 2020
At the same time, he added that starting from scratch does not mean that the "old sheets of paper" in the form of existing judicial claims will disappear.
"'Manuscripts don't burn,' as a Ukrainian classic wrote. Let these 'old sheets of paper' be examined by courts," Vitrenko said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on October 31, the Verkhovna Rada passed the bill on the unbundling of the gas transmission system from Naftogaz with the GTS remaining wholly owned by the state.
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 September 19.
The negotiations were focused on the following: how to reflect EU energy rules in a future framework agreement; the proper duration of the future contract; necessary volumes with possible variability; and gas transit rates.
Russia's gas giant Gazprom in the course of talks on September 19 for the first time allowed the possibility of concluding a contract in line with European rules from January 1, 2020, if they are fully implemented in Ukraine before the end of this year.
UNIAN memo. The existing transit contract between Ukraine and Russia's Gazprom was signed in 2009 for a period of 10 years. Once it expires (from 2020), the Russian monopoly plans to minimize gas transit through the Ukrainian territory.