Ukraine decides not to increase prices for transit of Russian gas after 2019
During the trilateral negotiations in Berlin on July 17, Ukraine’s Naftogaz will not demand the increase of the transit rates, stated the Director of Business Development of Naftogaz of Ukraine, Yuriy Vitrenko on during a broadcast of the radio station Novoye Vremya.
Vitrenko stressed that Ukraine is going to Berlin with “the main proposal — to apply European rules to the transit of Russian gas through the territory of Ukraine.” Vitrenko explained that the lawsuit filed by Naftogaz against Gazprom on July 6 in the Stockholm Arbitration Court demand the increase of the gas transit rates during the period of 2018–2019.
According to him, the main subject of negotiations in Berlin will be transit of Russian gas after 2019.
“And after 2019, as we have already said and we are saying now, the transit rate will be even lower than now according to our contract. That is why we will not demand an increase in rates for the long term,” Vitrenko said.
On July 6, Naftogaz sued Russia's Gazprom in the Stockholm arbitration court. The Ukrainian company demands to review the transit rates from March 2018 under the contract with Gazprom that was concluded in 2009. Naftogaz believes that the existing rates are much higher than the rates in Europe.
The contract will expire in 2019. In April, Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee of Gazprom Alexander Medvedev said that the contract with Ukraine will not be extended after 2019, under any circumstances. However, according to him, it does not mean termination of gas transit through Ukraine. He then specified that Gazprom is looking forward to Ukraine’s proposals regarding gas transit after 2019, including economic conditions of transit.
In May 2017, Vitrenko stated that rates for gas transit will drop after the expiration of the contract with Gazprom.
On July 17, in Berlin, the trilateral negotiations on gas between Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission will take place. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and the Chief Executive Officer of Ukrainian state energy company Naftogaz, Andriy Kobolyev, will represent Ukraine. The Ukrainian Minister of Energy, Alexander Novak, said that the agenda of the meeting and the participants are still being decided.