Ukraine, Russia, EC to discuss gas transit in Brussels today
Ukraine, the European Union and Russia will discuss further steps to agree on a new contract for the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine to the EU from 2020, with Brussels expecting the parties to take firm commitments to make progress on this issue.
Censor.NET reports citing Interfax-Ukraine.
At present, two rounds of technical negotiations have taken place so far, but representatives of the Russian side have not arrived at any of them; progress in negotiations is negligible.
It is expected that the parties will discuss the results of the trilateral negotiations held in Berlin on Jul. 17, the agreement between Russia and Ukraine on the compatibility of transit system operators, the current state of gas supplies to the EU and the next steps.
The 2nd round of political trilateral talks with Russia and Ukraine on the future of gas transit via Ukraine will take place on Monday in Brussels. The meeting will take place with the participation of Vice-President responsible for the Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič, Ukraine Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and Mr. Andrii Kobolev, Naftohaz CEO representing Ukraine. It came as a surprise that Russian side will be represented not by Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Gazprom (as it was reported in European Comission announcement), but by the concern CEO Alexey Miller. Russia Energy Minister Alexander Novak will be also present at the talks.
The trilateral meeting starts at 3 p.m., preceded by bilateral meetings between Vice-President Šefčovič and each of the ministers.
"I welcome very much that both sides have agreed to come to Brussels for the second round of negotiations at ministerial level. I welcome also the presence of top representatives of the two incumbent gas companies. Exactly six months have passed since we met in this format for the first time in Berlin. A couple of talks at senior expert level have taken place since then and it is time to take stock of where we are in the process and discuss the way forward on the key parameters agreed in Berlin. We need a strong commitment by the two sides to advance in the talks, given that the existing transit contract expires at the end of this year," Šefčovič said before the talks.
The current contract signed in 2009 expires at the end of this year. In addition, the legislative field has significantly changed, in particular, the EU has adopted the Third Energy Package, and the Ukrainian side has pledged to apply European energy legislation in full.
Ukraine and the European side, which mediates in these negotiations, insist that the new transit contract fully complies with the European legislation.
