Russia and Ukraine have reached a general agreement on a new gas transit contract. EU Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic announced after hours of negotiations between the energy ministers of both countries in Berlin. Details are still open to be negotiated in the next few days, said Sefcovic. Then the contract should be signed.
According to information from the German Press Agency, the basic agreement provides for an agreement on the future term of the contract and on the quantity for gas transit through Ukraine. Potential bottlenecks in the energy supply seem to be averted from several European countries.
Time was short because the current contracts expired at the end of the year and another gas war threatened after 2009. At that time, many apartments in Eastern Europe remained cold because Kiev and Moscow had fought over prices for gas deliveries to Ukraine and for transit.
- Read an interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj here.
Ukraine fears billions of dollars in revenue
The EU and Germany through Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier acted as mediators in the negotiations because Ukraine feels pressured by Russia's market power and believes prices are politically controlled. Ukraine also feared that it could lose its position as the main transit country for Russian gas in the future, and that it would lose billions of euros in transit fees.
These fears arise because, in addition to the Nord Stream 1 pipeline in the Baltic Sea, Russia also plans to complete Nord Stream 2 soon, despite the threat of US sanctions. However, Putin recently repeatedly insisted that transit through Ukraine was still necessary due to the high energy requirements in Europe. However, Russia also demands that the dilapidated lines there be renovated.
A final agreement between Kiev and Moscow would also be an important building block for a future solution to the Ukraine conflict. Ukraine accuses Russia of supporting separatists in the east of the country. War has been raging in eastern Ukraine for more than five years. According to the UN, around 13,000 people have died in the fighting between Ukrainian government troops and pro-Russian separatists.
