Ukraine signs document on gas transit control without reservations, no grounds for delay in resumption of gas supplies to EU - MFA

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The Ukrainian party has signed the Terms of Reference for the Monitoring of the Transit of Natural Gas through Ukraine without any amendments or reservation.

When signing the instrument, a written declaration was made to politically fix Ukraine's position regarding the transit of Russian gas and give interpretation of separate clauses of the document signed, reads a commentary of MFA's press secretary Vasyl Kyrylych.

"The Ukrainian Declaration has made no amendments or addenda to the wording of the mentioned Terms of Reference. Moreover, the Declaration clearly fixes that "the Ukrainian side does not cast doubts on the validity of provisions of the Terms of Reference," the commentary reads.

According to Kyrylych, "Ukraine has fulfilled all conditions to resume supplies of Russian natural gas to EU member states".

"Firstly, we have signed the Terms of Reference in their initial format that had been coordinated between the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic and the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation in Moscow, January 10, 2009, without any alterations in the text of the document. Secondly, the monitoring task force for the transit of Russian gas has been actively working yet in the Ukrainian territory and the Russian Federation. Therefore, there is no ground for the delay in the resumption of supplies of Russian gas via Ukraine's territory to European consumers. And, finally, Ukraine as an independent state has its sovereign right to express own position on any issue," V. Kyrylych underscored.

UKRINFORM