Arseniy Yatsenyuk appeals to Parliament to immediately consider bill on joint with EU exploitation and upgrade of Ukrainian GTS

The Government of Ukraine submits to the Parliament a bill that envisages creating of a joint company with the EU in order to modernize and exploit the Ukrainian gas transporting system: “It will cardinally change the European energy security map. Russia will no longer dictate its terms,” the Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk stressed in his statement to the Parliament on Tuesday, June 17.

He noted the mentioned draft law would be considered at a Government’s session on June 18. 

Arseniy Yatsenyuk informed that the bill envisages setting up of a joint company with participation of member-countries of the Energy Community and aimed at upgrading and usage of Ukrainian GTS. 

“At this the controlling functions should be preserved by our state,” the Head of Government emphasized. 

Arseniy Yatsenyuk appealed to the Parliament of Ukraine with a request to immediately consider this draft law: “If in synergy with the European Union we work on transit and storing of gas, it will cardinally change the European energy security map. Russia will no longer dictate its terms”.

Moreover, he reminded that National Electricity Regulatory Commission had been commissioned to introduce economically grounded tariffs for transit of the Russian natural gas via the territory of Ukraine: “We don’t have an agreement with the European partners with regards to gas transit. Russia has actually received the Ukrainian gas transporting system on a lease and pump its natural gas at tariffs we don’t consider being economically justified”.

The Government of Ukraine appealed to the European partners with a request to move gas delivery point from the western border to the eastern one: “We are ready in the present circumstances to afford our European partners keep record of natural gas deliveries to the European Union’s countries jointly with Ukraine. That is in order to avoid allegations of Russia in the future that someone stoles something”.

According to Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the Cabinet of Ministers is engaged into reverse gas deliveries. The Head of Government reminded a statement of the President of the Russian Federation, “that they strongly oppose reverse supplies”: “And we strongly oppose monopoly, economic and energy discrimination. And we strongly oppose the attempts of Russia to violate European legislation”.

The Head of Government reminded that Ukraine had already launched the so-called small reverse and now the Ukrainian delegation were off to negotiate large reverse flows: “On condition of opening the large reverse flows the overall amount of deliveries to the territory of Ukraine is sufficient to meet Ukraine’s needs in natural gas”.

Apart from that, Arseniy Yatsenyuk emphasized the importance of gas price for the industry and added people say the Government and the state should not be concerned about that: “It sounds fine but incorrect. The price for our industry is not the price for oligarchs, they concern me least. It means price for workplaces in the country, for the competitive economy. Putin is well aware: we won’t sell anything to anyone at the price of USD 500 for natural gas for Ukraine’s economy, as our prices won’t be competitive”.

“The task of the Government is to fight for the economy and the companies, fight for the millions of people working in metallurgical and chemical industries. These are families, jobs and salaries,” the Head of Government accentuated.