Yatseniuk hopes Naftogaz, Gazprom will sign agreement by May 29
The period of pre-arbitration settlement of the dispute between Naftogaz Ukraine and JSC Gazprom expires on May 29 and Russia is acting unconstructively, but there is still a chance the two gas companies can sign an agreement, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said.
"If Naftogaz and Gazprom do not sign an appropriate agreement, which will meet the pre-arbitration claim [by Ukraine] by May 29, it means we will be seeing Russia's Gazprom in court," Yatseniuk said at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
"We are hoping that our neighbors will be reasonable and an appropriate agreement will be signed between Naftogaz and Gazprom," Yatseniuk said, adding that he believes "Russia has not made any steps to settle this dispute yet."
Yatseniuk recalled that Ukraine is ready to pay for the gas purchased, saying that debts should be repaid. "We just have to sign documents to pay our debts," he said.
"We want to hear from Russia, including on the issue of returning to Ukraine the 2.2 billion cubic meters of gas that Russia stole through Chornomornaftogaz in Crimea. It's $1 billion at Gazprom prices," he said, adding that Ukraine's losses from the joining of Crimea to Russia "are in the billions."
Yatseniuk also reiterated that Ukraine insists on multi-party gas talks because it does not trust the Russian administration. "Bilateral negotiations are not possible in the current situation without the involvement of the U.S. and the EU," he said.
Yatseniuk also said that purchases of Russian gas by the EU should be reconsidered by transferring the point of its sale to the Ukrainian-Russian border because it is in line with the provisions of the Energy Charter and the Energy Community, of which Ukraine, unlike Russia, is a member.
Yatseniuk said he believes Ukraine's gas transportation system should be operated and modernized in cooperation with partners from the EU and the U.S. "And underground storage facilities should be filled by European, U.S., and, if they want, Russian companies," he said.
Gazprom earlier announced its decision to introduce pre-payment for the gas supplied to Naftogaz beginning on June 1 due to non-payment and the $3.5 billion debt accumulated by the end of April.
Ukraine demands a reduction of the gas price, refusing to recognize its increase from April 1 from $268.5 per 1,000 cubic meters to $486.5 per 1,000 cubic meters. It says it is ready to repay the entire debt if the price stays $268.5 per 1,000 cubic meters.
The second round of the three-party gas talks in the format Ukraine-Russia-EU held in Berlin on May 26 did not yield any results. However, the parties said an agreement can be reached before the end of the month.
