Trilateral talks between the European Commission, Russia and Ukraine on the future of gas transit via Ukraine will resume in May, the parties said after the second negotiating session on Monday 21 January in Brussels (see EUROPE 12175).
Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the Commission responsible for the Energy Union, stressed that time “flies and every day we are getting closer” to the end of 2019 when the current contract expires.
He submitted a proposal to the Russian and Ukrainian partners, covering three main parameters of the future transit agreement (duration, volumes and tariffs).
The proposal also covers the parameters of investment, maintenance of the gas system and technical and legal requirements. The Commissioner considers this to be a “fair” proposal for a “long-term” agreement.
Discussions will continue at the level of European, Russian and Ukrainian senior experts to prepare for the high-level meeting in May at the ministerial level.
“We took stock of the progress achieved so far, covering all key areas - the legal framework for a future transit contract, tariffs, unbundling of the transmission system operator in Ukraine and the EU's future gas demands”, said Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič.
Everything is fine for this winter. The parties discussed the security of gas supply this winter and “the good news is that everything will be fine, there will be no complications”, the Commissioner said.
Bilateral talks. The Commissioner also held bilateral talks with each party. Together with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, he discussed the synchronization of Baltic States with the electricity grid of continental Europe by the target date of 2025 “without any risk to the Baltics, Russia, nor Belarus”.
Together with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, the Commission reiterated its support for the unbundling process of the state-owned gas company Naftogaz (to maintain the transit of Russian gas destined for the EU via Ukraine). The Commission is studying the Naftogaz proposal received on Monday morning and hopes that the unbundling process will be completed by 1 January 2020. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)