Budget revenue from gas transit via Ukraine soars to $926.3 mln in 9 months

However, the company has not provided the comparative data from the same period last year.

"The revenue from gas transit provided about a quarter of Naftogaz group's payments to the state budget ... Transit of gas over nine months brought UAH 24.9 billion in budget revenue," the press service said, adding that the total revenue amounted to UAH 91.6 billion ($3.4 billion).

The country's state budget revenue from gas transit is comparable with education costs, while being 1.5 times higher than expenditures on healthcare, sports, and environmental protection.

As UNIAN reported earlier, according to earlier estimates by CEO of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine Andriy Kobolev, Ukraine's revenue from gas transit in 2017 will be about $3 billion ($111.6 million).

Read alsoU.S. Ambassador: Ukraine may lose US$2.7 bln per year because of Nord Stream 2The current contract for gas transit between Naftogaz and Gazprom was signed in 2009 for a period of ten years, until the end of 2019.

Top managers of the Russian monopoly have repeatedly stated their intention to reduce gas transit via Ukraine to the EU (to 15 billion cubic meters per year) from 2020, or halt it completely. To this end, Russia actively lobbies the construction of two bypass routes: a gas pipeline along the bottom of the Baltic Sea (Nord Stream 2) and the Black Sea (Turkish Stream).

Despite current operations of bypass routes (like Nord Stream 1), Gazprom often appeals to the Ukrainian side to increase gas flows via the territory of Ukraine due to repairs on offshore pipelines.

Record high volumes of Russian gas transit have been reported this year. According to the state-owned operator of Ukraine's gas transmission system Ukrtransgaz, gas transit via the country's territory increased by 23.5%, to 70.4 billion cubic meters within nine months of 2017.

Read alsoUkraine earns extra $300 mln during OPAL pipeline's standstillAccording to Naftogaz, the retention of gas transit via Ukraine will be possible only if a qualified western partner is involved in the management of the Ukrainian gas transmission system (GTS).