KIEV (Sputnik) — "Transit tariffs will stand at about $4.5 per 100 kilometers, in accordance with new calculations. This is more than 50 percent higher than before," Demchyshyn told reporters.
In June 2015, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said the gas transit rate through the territory of Ukraine was $2.7 per 1,000 cubic meters per 100 kilometers, while Kiev intended to raise it to $5.
Kiev has also repeatedly stated that the agreement between Russia and Ukraine on gas transit to Europe will be extended after 2019, since there is no alternative to Ukrainian gas route. For its part, Gazprom is working on the construction of offshore gas pipelines bypassing Ukraine.
Moscow has repeatedly voiced concerns over Ukraine's reliability as a key transit route. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said last spring that Russia would most likely stop gas supplies through Ukraine when the existing contract expired in 2019.