Ukraine signs contract for gas transit from Russia to Europe
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a contract was signed for the transit of Russian gas to Europe from Russia through the territory of Ukraine for five years.
"This is the end of the year, but not the end of our achievements. Ukraine has signed a gas transit contract for five years, during which we will receive at least over $7 billion. The parties can extend the contract for another ten years," wrote Zelensky on his Facebook page.
"The Ukrainian gas transit system will be given a full load, which means energy security and welfare for Ukrainians! The minimum guaranteed volume of transited gas is 65 billion cubic meters for the first year and 40 billion cubic meters for the next four years. Actually, we can deliver a bigger volume. Europe knows that we will not let them down in energy security," said Zelensky.
According to the Executive Director of Naftogaz of Ukraine Yuriy Vitrenko, the new contract contains a take-or-pay condition.
"The fact that we signed a contract for transit for five years based on the take-or-pay rule is an extraordinary event in such conditions. I will note that this is the first time in the history of Ukraine when Gazprom signed a contract for transit using the European take-or-pay rule. Before that, only gas purchases from Gazprom were covered by a similar, but unprofitable for Ukraine and profitable for Russia, the "take or pay" principle," said Vitrenko.