Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev / Photo from UNIAN
The likelihood of signing a new transit contract remains, albeit tiny.
Chances that National Joint Stock Company Naftogaz of Ukraine will sign a new gas transit contract with Russia's Gazprom from January 1, 2020, are disappearing.
"The likelihood of signing a transit contract remains, albeit very, very small. With every minute, it is tending to zero," Head of Naftogaz Andriy Kobolev told a conference on the unbundling of Ukraine's gas transmission system on Tuesday.
As UNIAN reported earlier, another round of trilateral negotiations on the transit of Russian gas via Ukraine from January 1, 2020, is scheduled for December 19.
Read alsoNext round of Ukraine-Russia-EU gas transit talks scheduled for Dec 19
The latest round was held in Brussels on October 28.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, following negotiations in the Normandy format in Paris on December 9, said there was a chance of signing a new transit agreement with the Russian Federation on better terms than before.
The existing transit contract between Naftogaz and Gazprom was concluded in 2009 for a period of 10 years.
Once the deal expires (from 2020), the Russian monopoly intends to minimize transit via the territory of Ukraine.