REUTERS
Naftogaz top manager expressed hope that the final version of the new transit agreement will be signed as early as December 27.
Delegations of Ukraine's Naftogaz and Russia's Gazprom today, December 26, will meet to finalize the terms of the new agreement on the transit of Russian gas via Ukraine to the European Union from January 1, 2020, Executive Director of Naftogaz Yuriy Vitrenko wrote on Facebook.
"On December 26, the teams of Naftogaz and Gazprom will meet to finalize the terms of contracts. Each party has own draft agreements, but only one set must be signed," he wrote.
The parties will be working on a common version of the new transit deal, Vitrenko added.
Read alsoUkraine to get US$15 bln from Russian gas transit within five years – energy minister
"Once again I emphasize that the common version doesn't mean concessions only on our part. In no case will we allow Ukraine's national interests to be compromised. We hope we'll be able to agree on the terms of the contracts and complete the process on Friday, December 27. But if we need to, we'll continue our work through the weekend," explained the top manager.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on December 21, following trilateral negotiations in the Ukraine-EU-Russia format, Minister of Energy and Environmental Protection Oleksiy Orzhel stated that the parties had concluded a protocol that provided for the implementation of a number of agreements.
In particular, a new contract for the transit of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine will be concluded for a period of five years with the possibility of its extension for ten years.
Naftogaz by year-end will have received from Russia’s Gazprom about $2.9 billion in monetary compensation in line with the Stockholm arbitration award, given that the agreements reached during the negotiations are fulfilled.
Ukraine and Gazprom will settle on Ukraine's previous claim to recover UAH 172 billion from the Russian gas monopoly by a ruling of the Antimonopoly Committee and the Commercial Court of Kyiv, handed down in 2016.