Demchyshyn: There are several options for getting out of this situation / Photo from UNIAN
Ukraine has several options at its disposal for organizing the pumping of Russian gas for the 2015-2016 heating season, even withought the signed “wnter package” protocol, Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine Volodymyr Demchyshyn has told the reporters on Wednesday.
At the same time, he emphasized that the protocol is likely to be "signed in the near future."
"There is such probability. There are several options how to get out of this situation. You all know perfectly well that at the time when we were going to sign it, Novak [Russia’s Energy Minister] was not authorized by the government," he said.
Read alsoGazprom to supply gas to Ukraine only under advance paymentThe minister said that the supplies of gas without signed protocol will not affect litigation in the Stockholm arbitration, in which Ukraine disputes the terms of the gas contract with Russia.
In addition, Demchyshyn stressed that gas supplies from Russia could begin within the next few days.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine has agreed all the necessary procedures for the signing of the protocol on the organization of the supply of gas from Russia to Ukraine in the framework of the "winter package."
On September 28, energy ministers of Ukraine and Russia Volodymyr Demchyshyn and Alexander Novak, as well as vice-president of the European Commission, Maros Sefcovic, agreed on the conditions of the winter gas package. The document was initialed, but its signing and approval required separate procedures. The officials also agreed on all key positions with respect to the supplementary agreement to the contract for the supply of gas between Naftogaz and Gazprom. The initialed protocol is valid from October 1, 2015, until the end of March, 2016. According to the document, the Ukrainian side has committed to purchase 2 bcm of gas for injection into underground storage facilities starting October, 2015. The price of gas will amount to nearly $227 per thousand cubic meters. The Ukrainian government is to allocate $500 million for the purchase of gas. The rest of the necessary funds to secure gas payments may be provided by Ukraine’s donors - the World Bank and the EBRD.