Ukraine, EU negotiate Russian gas transit via Ukraine to Europe

Oleksandr Shlapak

On January 6, the Secretariat of the President of Ukraine held talks between Ukraine and the European Union on the transportation of the Russian natural gas via Ukraine to the EU countries, UKRINFORM reports quoting the presidential press-service.

Oleksandr Shlapak, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Secretariat, noted that Ukraine places great hopes on the January 9 meeting in Brussels, where a coordination group of European experts will have its regular meeting. "We and our Russian colleagues along with the European Commission will discuss the situation and I hope we will find the way out," the official said.

O. Shlapak delivered in details a stance of Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko on the transportation of the Russian natural has via Ukraine to the EU countries. In particular, he emphasized that "unfortunately, we have no legal documents that would have clearly certified the commitments both of the Russian and Ukrainian parties both on gas deliveries to Ukraine and its transit to Europe".

According to Shlapak, "Ukraine, on a voluntary basis, unilaterally resolved to continue its transit function and is today performing this mission actually at the expense of its own resource so that the break erupted does not result in a deadlock situation on gas supplies to Europe".

The main goal of the visit of the European Union delegation to Ukraine is to familiarize with a real situation on the transportation of the Russian natural has via Ukraine to the EU countries and discussing approaches and positions of the Ukrainian party in order to establish transparent cooperation with Russia and the EU in the field of the Russian gas deliveries to Ukraine and its transit via Ukraine.

The European Union delegation was represented by Martin Riman, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Bartuska, Ambassador-at-Large, Czech Republic's Special Envoy for Energy Security, Matthias Ruete, Director General of the Directorate General for Transport and Energy of the European Commission, Jan Zaplatilek, Head of the Department of Gas Industry and Liquid Fuels at the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, Andris Kesteris, Head of Office of European Energy Commissioner, Fauzi Bensarsa, Energy Advisor of the European Commission's Directorate General of Foreign Relations, Dirk Schuebel, Acting Head of the Delegation of the EC to Ukraine.

UKRINFORM