The European Commission wants to hold the next round of gas talks between Russia and Ukraine as soon as possible in order to discuss with both sides the issues of the transit protocol, which will expire in 2019. The EU would like to see an agreement between countries using EU standards when determining transit fees.
On the last day of December last year, Kiev announced radical rates for the transit of Russian gas. From January 1, the rate increased to $ 12.47 from $ 2.7 per thousand cubic meters of fuel. The gas transportation system is a complex object and requires regular maintenance and upgrades, including ball valves and other shut-off valves. Nevertheless, the European Union believes that Russia's payment for gas transit should be calculated on the basis of EU standards. Ukraine is an important transit country for the EU, which believes that “it would be better to start re-negotiation now,” the European Commission says.
In the context of the planned Nord Stream 2, which could eliminate Ukraine as a transit country, the European Commission emphasizes that it wants to maintain supply routes through Ukraine. The transit of the Russian-Ukrainian protocol expires in 2019 and this raises concerns in the EU about its own energy security next winter.
Ukrainian gas transmission company Ukrtransgaz announced at the beginning of the year that despite tensions in relations between Kiev and Moscow, the transit of Russian gas supplied through Ukraine to the EU in 2015 increased by almost 8 percent. Ukraine in November stopped buying gas from Russia and said that it would receive only the resource that flows in transit through its territory, and buys the same gas in Europe for its own needs.
Russian Gazprom and Ukrainian Naftogaz are resolving a dispute in an arbitration court in Stockholm. The arbitral tribunal considers the issue in two stages. The first will take place in the fall, and again in the spring, "so we will have another winter without arbitration," an official from the European Commission said in Brussels on Tuesday, which wants to start negotiations on gas supplies as soon as possible before next winter. >
