28 February 2017, 07:08 GMT
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Mehren told Russian Vedomosti newspaper he did not know where the money had gone, but definitely not for modernizing the pipeline system, noting low technical characteristics of Ukrainian gas transportation system.
Wintershall's CEO added that more options for gas deliveries should be created, noting that the decision to decline the Russian project on construction of the South Stream pipeline bypassing Ukraine was disadvantageous for the European Union in terms of energy security, especially for such countries as Romania and Bulgaria.
In 2016, gas transit through Ukraine accounted for approximately 43% of Russian gas exports to Europe.
