Russia gas transit offer to Ukraine to end 2021

By

Russian energy minister Aleksander Novak has said that Russia has offered Ukraine the opportunity to extend an existing gas transit agreement to the end of 2021.

“We will wait for trilateral consultations [with the EU and Ukraine] to begin, when a new government will be formed (…). We are in favour of Ukraine buying gas directly.

“We offered our colleagues the chance to extend the current contract for a year under the already existing conditions,” Mr Novak told the Russian press on July 26.

According to Reuters, Russia’s aim is to have an agreement only until the construction of Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream, the two Russia-built pipelines that will bypass Ukraine, are fully completed.

“Ukraine is looking for a long-term, 10-year deal. It’s not beneficial for us. A one-year deal would be OK so we would build up our strength and launch all those streams [Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream],” one Russian source told Reuters.

Previous talks have collapsed due to a number of issues, including legal disputes between Russian gas giant Gazprom and Ukrainian state gas firm Naftogaz, the threat of US sanctions against Nord Stream 2, as well as Russia insisiting that it would continue negotiating only if Ukraine forms its new government.

Trying to mediate the talks, European Commission Vice President for Energy Maroš Šefčovič called for the next round of trilateral talks to take place in September. On behalf of the EU, Mr Šefčovič proposed that the two countries should agree on a 10-year contract with a guaranteed minimum of nearly 60 billion cubic metres of annual transit volume.

Yuriy Vitrenko, an executive director at Naftogaz told Reuters that Ukraine is relying on the EU’s proposal.

“It’s clear that [Russia] wants to phase out, dry out Ukraine transit,” Reuters’s Ukrainian source said, with another source saying that an extension of the current bilateral agreement might be the best possible option for Ukraine to save time to reform its gas system.

Last week, the Ukrainian media reported that the country is negotiating with Greece to supply Qatari gas from an LNG terminal close to Athens.

“We are working to ensure that gas supplies to Ukraine from the southern direction via the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline could be made already from January,” said Ukrtransgaz director Sergiy Makogon.

Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream are expected to be finished by the end of this year. However, the second northern gas pipeline is currently facing delays over permits from Denmark and changes to EU rules. The pipelines are expected to have an annual transit capacity of at least 70 billion cubic metres.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Prostitution; Nigerian Women At Growing Risk From Human Traffickers In Germany.

By
Image
According to InfoMigrants, Nigerian women are at growing risk from traffickers in Germany who exploit and engage them in prostitution. Read the full report below by InfoMigrants. The new prostitute protection law in Germany was meant to identify victims of human trafficking – most of them migrant women. More than 18 months after the law came into effect, thousands continue to be targeted for exploitation, and the risk for Nigerian women seems to be increasing. There are campervans parked by the roadside. Some have hearts painted on them, one says “girls, girls” in red letters. It’s an easy matter for someone to stop for a quick transaction in one of these Love-Mobiles – sex with one of the “girls” in exchange for the going rate. Prostitution is mainly legal in Germany, as are these mobile brothels. But many of the women in the business – including those working from the Love-Mobiles – are victims of illegal human trafficking. Most of the women are from Eastern Europe or Nige
Read more

FULL TEXT: A sacrifice for our new political order – Ezekwesili

By
Image
“When the ACPN leadership approached me in a series of visits to appeal that I run for office on their platform, the party appeared to be a good fit. It was founded by some disgruntled PDP members some years ago, but when its prime founder decided to return to the PDP, a core of its membership refused to move back with him. I was told that they stayed back because of their opposition to the ways of the PDP. Considering my vocal disapproval of the PDP and the APC, I admired the ACPN’s decision to stand firm and refusal to be co-opted.” It has been an interesting one week since I made the tough but necessary decision to suspend my campaign for the presidency. I have been truly overwhelmed by the reactions to my announcement from Nigerians. Even in airports outside the country as I travelled last week, Nigerians walked up to me with questions, concerns, encouragement, and motivation. I also saw disappointment by some who had poured their hearts and hopes into actualising our mission
Read more

Update On Slay Queen Who Was Stripped Naked And Tortured Over Missing Phone.

By
Image
The League of Patriotic Lawyers has given Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Olusegun Odumosu, 24 hours to unravel those behind the torture and insertion of pepper into a girl’s private part in Benin City over alleged stealing of a mobile phone.  Chairman of the platform and former Student Union President of the University of Benin, Mr. Abubakar Yesufu, who said this in a statement yesterday, also urged the state Director, Department of State Services, DSS, to be involved in the investigation. A video of the incident, seen by Vanguard yesterday, showed the girl being stripped naked by a group of people, who inserted pepper into her private parts for allegedly stealing a phone. The unidentified girl was heard crying and saying she didn’t steal any phone, while she was being humiliated by the crowd. Yesufu said: “The League of Patriotic Lawyers has given the Edo State Commissioner of Police 24 hours to arrest and commence prosecution of all the street urchins behind this ba
Read more