Ukraine starts gas transit to EU under new contract with Russia
New Ukrainian national gas transit company, Operator of Gas Transit System of Ukraine (GTS), announced the beginning of the transit of Russian gas to the European Union under a new contract with Gazprom. The first cubic meters of gas have already been transported to the EU, reads the company's message on Facebook.
The head of the company Sergey Makogon, in turn, said that the GTS has started working on a regular schedule and transports gas under the signed agreements. "We have proved that we can work under the new European rules," he wrote.
On January 1, the company became the new operator of Ukrainian GTS instead replacing Ukrtransgaz. On Decemker 24, the Ukrainian regulator completed its certification and approved tariffs for gas transportation.
The previous contract for gas transit through Ukraine expired on December 31. On December 30, Moscow and Kyiv signed a new five-year agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, the total volume of gas transit will be 225 billion cubic meters. In 2020, the amount of deliveries will be 65 billion cubic meters, and in the next four years, it will be 40 billion cubic meters per year.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, commenting on the signing of the new contract, called it a necessary compromise, which indicates that Moscow and Kyiv can agree on the most challenging issues.