REUTERS
A negative option is where, despite commercial feasibility and market logic, Gazprom won't sign the contract.
Head of Naftogaz Andriy Kobolyev said that in the situation with the transit of Russian gas after December 31, 2019, there are several options for further developments: positive, negative and interim.
"Of course, we want the positive option to be realized, where Gazprom and the new GTS operator, separated from Naftogaz, can sign a new gas transit contract and continue transmission through Ukraine on new, European conditions," Kobolyev said in an interview with liga.net.
A negative option is where, despite commercial feasibility and market logic, Gazprom will not sign such a contract.
"Huge gas reserves created in Europe by Gazprom and other Russian companies also speak in favor of this option. These reserves will rise in price during the crisis, on which these companies can make decent money," he said.
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"Here's an interim scenario: after a while it will become obvious that an empty spot can't stay empty forever, that others are taking Gazprom's share in the European market, and they will have to return to the new GTS operator and agree on transit," Kobolyev added.
In his opinion, the latter option is the most likely one.
As UNIAN reported earlier, a summit of the heads of state of the Normandy Format" (Ukraine, Germany, France, and the Russian Federation) is scheduled for December 9, where gas issues are also expected to be discussed.
Earlier, Minister of Energy and Environmental Protection of Ukraine Oleksiy Orzhel admitted that the next round of trilateral gas negotiations between Ukraine, Russia and the European Union will take place on December 5, but these talks didn't take place today. The most recent trilateral negotiations on gas transit through the territory of Ukraine from January 1, 2020, took place 28 in Brussels on October.
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The previous meeting was on September 19.
The current transit contract between Ukraine and Russian Gazprom was concluded in 2009 for a period of 10 years. After its completion (from 2020), the Russian monopoly intends to minimize gas transit via Ukraine, which would deprive Ukraine of significant transit revenues.