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Ukrainian, Romanian pipeline operators sign deal on gas transit
The Ukrainian and Romanian national gas pipeline operators have signed an interconnection agreement to allow gas supplies from Turkey and southern Europe to Ukraine and Moldova, the Ukrainian company said on Wednesday quoted by Reuters.
Ukraine is in talks with Russian gas producer Gazprom (GAZP.MM) on a new gas transit agreement.
But there is very little chance of Ukraine signing a new gas transit deal with Russia’s Gazprom before Jan. 1, Naftogaz Chief Executive Andriy Kobolyev told a conference on Wednesday.
He also said he had no final confirmation that Russian representatives would attend another round of talks on a new agreement on Thursday.
Ukraine is a key transit route through which Russian gas reaches Europe but a current deal between the two post-Soviet countries expires at the end of the year.
“It (the probability of signing by Jan. 1) is gradually approaching zero, but we are optimistic,” Kobolyev said.
Time is running out to hammer out a new agreement, with relations battered since Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and backed separatist fighters in a conflict in the eastern Donbass region.
Moscow has previously said the transit tariffs proposed by Ukraine to ship Russian gas through its territory next year were too high, a claim dismissed by Kiev.
The next round of three-way gas talks between the European Union, Russia and Ukraine to agree on a gas deal is expected to take place on Thursday, December 19, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said on Tuesday.
Writing on Twitter, Sefcovic said he was looking forward to the talks, adding that “the time is high to send a positive message to markets and consumers.”