KIEV, August 19 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine is technically prepared to provide Europe with transit gas from Russia in the future, Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan said Tuesday.
“The Ukrainian side is technologically ready to supply transit natural gas from the Russian Federation to Europe in the future, even after Russia halts gas deliveries to Ukraine,” Prodan was quoted by the ministry’s press service as saying after a meeting with Slovakian Economy Minister Pavol Pavlis.
On June 16, Russian gas giant Gazprom was forced to implement a prepayment scheme for gas deliveries to Ukraine after several unsuccessful rounds of talks on the new price and debt repayment.
The Russian compromise was a $100 discount to the contract price, bringing it down to $385, as well as a phased debt repayment scheme. Ukraine declined the offer, dissatisfied with the discount mechanism. Ukraine’s gas debt is estimated to be more than $5 billion.
Earlier, Ukrainian national oil and gas company Naftogaz suggested to European companies purchasing Russian gas on the border between Russia and Ukraine. The European Commission said it would require a renegotiation of the transit contracts and a trilateral meeting between the European Commission, Russia and Ukraine.
On August 11, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko discussed the possibility of resuming gas talks between Ukraine, Russia and the European Union with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. On August 7, Naftogaz expressed its readiness to seek to resolve the Russia-Ukraine gas issues via an intermediary.
