Photo from UNIAN
Ukrainian Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Volodymyr Demchyshyn says transit shipments of Russian gas via Ukrainian territory are subject to the current transit rates without a 50% increase until a new contract has been signed.
"Currently, we do not have the grounds for [issuing invoices with] new tariffs, because the agreement has not been signed. We are working based on those contracts that exist," the minister said at an investment forum in Kyiv.
As UNIAN reported earlier, NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine proposed holding talks with Russia's OAO Gazprom regarding the price for the Russia gas transit to the EU after the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities on December 29 established new pricing rules for this type of services.
However, according to the existing contract between Gazprom and Naftogaz, which has been the subject of disputes in the Stockholm arbitration, the rate of Russian gas transit through the Ukrainian territory is pegged to the price of Russian gas.
According to the Ukrainian Energy Minister, the rate for gas transit in the first quarter of 2015 was $2.88 per 1,000 cubic meters per 100 kilometers.
UNIAN's memo. In 2014, transit of Russian gas to the European countries through the territory of Ukraine decreased by 29.1% year-over-year to 59.4 billion cubic meters (bcm), while in 2015 transit volumes increased by 7.9% to 67.1 bcm, as compared to 2014.
The transit contract signed between Ukraine and Russia stipulates that Gazprom shall pump at least 110 bcm of natural gas through Ukraine annually.
In October 2014, Naftogaz filed a lawsuit with the Stockholm arbitration court seeking a revision of the gas transit contract with Russia's Gazprom and compensation for insufficient amounts of gas pumped via Ukraine.