Report: Kiev wants to prolong Russian gas transit deal before 2024

KIEV, Oct 27 (PRIME) -- Ukraine has suggested that it and Moscow prolong their natural gas transit contract before it ends in 2024, Sergei Makogon, CEO of the Gas Transmission System (GTS) Operator of Ukraine, said in an interview to local television channel TSN broadcast late on Tuesday.

“We insist on the proposal that if there is interest of the U.S. and German sides, on prolongation of the transit contract now without waiting for 2024. It is possible. We are ready to sign a contract for the next 10–15 years with the amount of transit of at least 45 billion cubic meters per year today,” he said, adding that Russia had not responded to the proposal.

The guarantees of Germany and the U.S. to help prolong transit through Ukraine after the launch of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline were only declarative, not substantiated by any real mechanisms, he said.

If transit stops after 2024, Ukraine will have to optimize its gas transportation system and use only the part necessary to ensure internal consumption of gas. The gas market of Ukraine, which consumes 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year, is not small. The local companies produce 20 bcm of gas, and the country imports the remainder, he said.

The current transit agreement between Moscow and Kiev was signed after expiration of the previous deal in 2019. The contract guarantees that Russian gas giant Gazprom pumps 60 bcm through Ukraine in the first year after signing and 40 bcm per year in the following four years. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said that the company was ready to continue transit after 2024, if it is economically viable and if the Ukrainian gas transmission system is in a good condition.

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