/ segodnya.ua
The expert has named a key problem in Ukraine-Russia gas talks.
The main stumbling block in gas negotiations between Ukraine and Russia is the form of converting the outcome of the Stockholm arbitration dispute, where Gazprom was obliged to pay $3 billion to Naftogaz.
"Those several billion dollars that Ukraine is supposed to receive by the Stockholm arbitration award can be taken either with money or with gas," economic expert Oleksiy Kushch has told Segodnya.
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"But the thing is, I believe, that Russia will never agree to make it official, as a payment," the expert stressed, suggesting that Russia is "ready to give a 20-25% discount on gas for some time, which should cover Ukraine's win, while Ukraine should sort of 'refuse' from enforcing debt."
As a result, Kushch says, Russia will "save face" in the international arena as "no other option is acceptable to them."
The expert hesitates on whether such an option is acceptable to Ukraine.
"I think both [President Volodymyr] Zelensky and the team that surrounds him would go for it, but they are perfectly aware of the option's toxicity. Such a decision will give the opposition a tremendous carte blanche," explained the expert.