The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has voiced the conditions under which the Russian Federation will negotiate with Ukraine on extending the agreement on gas transit through Ukrainian territory. The current contract for the energy carrier transportation will end on December 31, 2024.
Alexei Polishchuk, Director of the Second Department of the CIS countries of the Russian MFA, stated that negotiations can begin only after Russia clarifies who, how much and on what conditions will buy the resource from it.
"For obvious reasons, negotiations on the transit extension can be conducted only when there is a clear understanding of which of the partners will be ready to buy Russian gas, in what volumes, and on what terms. The issue of transportation in this case is secondary," he told RIA Novosti.
In addition, Polishchuk noted the political nature of the issue of the gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine. According to him, the Ukrainian authorities are pursuing a "political agenda" when they talk about extending the transit contract, while the current agreement will remain in effect for another three years.
Context. Last month, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal stated that Ukraine expected to extend the contract for the transit of natural gas for 15 years after 2024 and confirmed its readiness to pump volumes of more than 40 billion cubic meters at 50% reduced rates.
In October, the Ukrainian side offered the European leadership additional gas supplies in the amount of over 40 billion cubic meters under the "special conditions".
Recall that the current contract for the natural gas transit from Russia to the EU through Ukraine is valid within 40 billion cubic meters per year for the period 2021—2024. The contract was signed on December 30, 2019 following the results of trilateral gas negotiations Ukraine—Russia—European Commission.
The throughput capacity of the Ukrainian GTS at the inlet is 281 billion cubic meters, at the output—146 billion cubic meters.
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