Naftogaz Refutes Claims That Russia, Ukraine Preliminarily Agreed on Gas Transit

KIEV (Sputnik) - Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz has refuted information that Moscow and Kiev had allegedly reached a preliminary agreement on Russian gas transit through Ukraine.

"Statements that Russia and Ukraine have reached a preliminary agreement on gas transit are not true", Naftogaz wrote on Twitter.

No deal on Russian gas transit through Ukraine after 2019 has been agreed. The parties continue negotiations at the level of experts as well as in the trilateral format mediated by the European Commission. Naftogaz will inform about any agreements reached through official sources

— Naftogaz of Ukraine (@NaftogazUkraine) December 16, 2019

​Meanwhile, Naftogaz Executive Director Yuriy Vitrenko said on 13 December, following talks with Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller, that the countries had preliminarily agreed on gas transit after the current contract expires at the end of the year. He said that discussions continued, as there was no final deal yet.

The current gas transit contract between the companies is set to expire this year. In November, Gazprom sent Ukraine's Naftogaz an official proposal to extend the transit contract or enter into a new one for one year, taking into account the projected demand in the EU. According to the Russian gas giant, the prerequisite for continued transit is that both sides must give up their lawsuits and claims to antitrust authorities against one another.

At the same time, Gazprom said it was waiting for Ukraine's position regarding its readiness to directly purchase Russian gas beginning in 2020. In return, Naftogaz said that Kiev would not withdraw its lawsuits against Russia's Gazprom lodged in international arbitration courts unless it could reach a gas transit and delivery deal with Russia. It also confirmed its readiness to consider Gazprom's proposals on the return of $3 billion in debt and discuss compensation so that Kiev would not proceed with an additional $12.2 billion lawsuit.