Ukraine does not intend to continue transit of Russian gas - Halushchenko
Ukraine does not plan to extend the contract for the transit of Russian gas to Europe.
Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said this in an interview with Ukrinform, Censor.NET reports.
"Nothing has changed. Ukraine does not intend to extend this contract. We can only repeat it," he said.
According to the minister, Ukraine has already spoken out clearly on this issue, and European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson "also said that they do not see the need for this transit."
He also commented on the question of whether the contract could be extended not with Gazprom, but with "some European country or company."
"These discussions have been going on for a long time, but there are no agreements on this matter today. To talk about something, you need to have a subject of conversation. And today there is none," the head of the energy ministry said.
Halushchenko noted that the issue of Russian gas transit to Europe through Ukraine has two components: political and physical.
"The physical component concerns security of supply. This is a serious issue for any country, because no one wants to freeze without gas in winter. And here we need to answer the question: can you live without this gas? Now let's look at transit. The contract provides for the transit of 40 billion cubic meters of Russian gas through Ukraine. But the actual transit last year was only 14 billion cubic meters. That is, the volumes dropped to 14 billion cubic meters and no one froze. And now the question is: what if this transit drops to zero, then for some countries it's over, you won't make it through the winter, will you?" he said.
The minister added that he knows the answer to this question, "but let these individual countries answer it."
"Now let's look at the political side of this issue. Ukraine is a reliable partner. We are not Russians. And I explain this to my colleagues: even if we continue to do business with the Russians, this does not guarantee a solution. They can stop gas transit even today, they do not need any legal framework. They will say that it is force majeure or something else. And that's it, go to court and prove something," Halushchenko said.
He added that Europeans could also use the option of pumping the entire volume of gas they received from Russia through Ukraine last year into Ukrainian gas storage facilities.
"Last year, there were 14 billion cubic meters of Russian gas transit, and we have storage facilities where 15 billion cubic meters can be used by Europeans. So, relatively speaking, just pump these 14 billion cubic meters into Ukrainian storage facilities. If someone wants to continue to receive Russian gas at a discount and think that it is safe," the minister said.
