KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th December, 2019) The probability that Ukraine will sign a new gas transit contract with Russia by the end of the year is approaching zero, the chief executive officer of Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz said on Wednesday.
The current transit deal, which was signed in 2009, is set to expire on December 31. During trilateral consultations between Ukraine, the European Union and Russia in October, the latter argued for a deal that included terms for settling legal disputes as well as gas transit, although no significant progress was achieved on either front.
"I hope that a contract will be signed, but it seems to me that right now we can say that the probability of signing a new contract until January 1 is very, very small. There is a math concept called infinitesimal. But we are hoping for the best," Andriy Kobolyev said during a Facebook broadcast.
During the Normandy Four meeting in Paris on December 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the matter with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. After the meeting, Zelenskyy said they had managed to "unblock" the issue, and the only thing left was for their advisers to work out the details. Negotiations between Gazprom and Naftogaz followed soon after. The gas giants last met in Vienna, with Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee Alexey Miller and Naftogaz's Chief Commercial Officer Yuriy Vitrenko in attendance.
On Thursday, trilateral consultations with the European Commission are set to occur in Berlin.
