Kiev expects $15 bln income from transit of Russian gas in 5 years

KIEV, Dec 24 (PRIME) -- Ukraine expects to receive U.S. $15 billion from Russian gas transit in the next five years, Ukrainian Energy Minister Alexei Orzhel said in an article he contributed to newspaper Ekonomicheskaya Pravda on Tuesday.

“The approximate income with which Ukraine left the meeting is more than $3 billion under the arbitration case plus about $3 billion for transit per year in the next five years. In the five-year term, we will get about $18 billion, of which $3 billion are to come in live money until the New Year,” he said.

This compares to a possible $12 billion loss, if Ukraine rejects its suit to Gazprom, he said.

On December 20, Russia and Ukraine signed a protocol of agreements on continuing gas transit through Ukraine and settling mutual claims and are expected to sign a 5-year gas transit contract before the New Year. Gas transit via Ukraine is expected at 65 billion cubic meters in 2020 and 40 billion cubic meters annually in 2021–2024.

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