Ukraine seeks to resolve gas transit dispute with Russia through talks
KYIV, June 23 (Xinhua) — Ukraine is ready to resolve a dispute with Russia over natural gas transit through bilateral negotiations, state-run energy company Naftogaz said Monday.
“I believe that we will try to resolve the issue through negotiations,” Naftogaz Chairman Andrey Kobolev told reporters.
If the two countries fail to reach agreement on amendments to their gas transit contract, Ukraine reserves the right to file a lawsuit at the Stockholm arbitration court to contest the provisions of the deal, Kobolev said.
Earlier this month, Kyiv expressed its willingness to revise the contract, signed between Naftogaz and Russian gas giant Gazprom in 2009, in response to Moscow’s decision to raise gas price.
Naftogaz is seeking to change the gas transit pricing formula embodied in the deal, which ties transportation fees to the cost of the fuel components, inflation in Europe, and Russian gas price for Ukraine.
Kyiv currently charges Moscow around 3 U.S. dollars per 1,000 cubic meters of gas per 100 km of transit.
Ukraine, whose gas transit network already operates below capacity, is also seeking to prescribe in the contract a minimum annual volume of gas it transports to Europe from Russia.