Kiev expects the
Russian side to confirm the date of the future meeting.
MOSCOW, December 3.
/TASS/. Russia and Ukraine may hold talks to resolve gas issues on December 5,
if Gazprom and Naftogaz are ready, Russia’s Minister of Energy Alexander Novak
said on Tuesday.
"No date has
been set yet, as work is still going on between the companies," Novak
said.
"If the
companies are ready by this time, then we are ready to hold the meeting on the
5th (December - TASS)," he added, commenting on the proposal of the
Ukrainian side to conduct negotiations on December 5.
On Monday, Minister
of Energy and Environmental Protection of Ukraine Aleksey Orzhel said that the
next round of consultations on the terms of transit and supplies of the Russian
natural gas to Ukraine may be held on December 5. "Speaking about the closest
dates… That may be on December 5 preliminarily," he said, adding that Kiev
expects the Russian side to confirm the date of the future meeting, and that no
such confirmation has been received so far.
The minister also
confirmed that Kiev is considering the possibilities of resuming direct
supplies of the Russian gas to the country, on the condition though that the
gas price will not be ‘politically motivated’, and that it will stipulate the
compensation related to execution of the Stockholm Arbitration Court’s
judgement.
"We reiterate
that the price (of gas supplies to Ukraine should be - TASS) indicative
European," he said, adding that it is "critical" to Kiev, and
that the price should stipulate "a discount from the European
indicator," meaning the compensation on the Stockholm Arbitration
proceeding between Naftogaz of Ukraine and Gazprom.
"Or we have
another option - to go further to arbitration," Orzhel said.
The contract for the
supply and transit of gas through Ukraine between Gazprom and Naftogaz ends on
December 31, 2019. Russia, Ukraine, and the European Commission continue to
hold consultations on the transit of Russian gas to the EU through Ukrainian
territory since 2020, although the dialogue is complicated by litigations
between Gazprom and Naftogaz.
Moscow offers a
"package solution" that includes a settlement agreement on litigation
and direct gas purchases at reduced rates. As a fallback, Russia is ready to
extend the current transit agreement for 2020.
However, Ukraine
considers rejection of litigation and signing of a short-term contract
unacceptable. At the same time, in November, Executive Director of Naftogaz
Yury Vitrenko announced that Ukraine would pump transit gas from Russia to its
underground storage facilities if it would enter the country without an
appropriate contract starting January 1, 2020.
Source: ITAR-TASS
03-12-2019
