President Victor Yushchenko has said in an interview with the Financial Times Ukraine will not give Russia a stake in its gas transportation system, insisting that it must be used rationally and in the nation’s interests, according to the President`s press-office.
“I am not saying no politician will start this speculation but I guarantee that nobody will be able to continue this polemics,” he said. “Even if there are people in the government who dream of this, this policy has no legal consequences and prospects.”
Speaking about Ukraine’s energy relations with its northern neighbor, the president said Russia would obviously try to impose its own scheme of gas supplies.
“RosUkrEnergo is one of the stories of this kind to which the official Ukraine has no relation,” he said and added that the name of this company “means absolutely nothing” and was “intended to create an impression there is Ukraine’s interest in it.” “In fact, there is no state interest whatsoever.”
Yushchenko said Ukraine’s relationship with the Russian Federation would always be based on the “concept of national independence.”
