According to the newspaper, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are concerned that the agreement between Gazprom and Naftogaz on the transportation of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine will expire on December 31.
For this reason, according to the newspaper, negotiations are currently underway in the European Union on how to extend gas supplies from Russia or increase gas supplies from other countries.
The article stated that one of the options is to conclude a new contract with Gazprom and buy gas from it on the Russian-Ukrainian border, and then pump it to the European Union while paying the Ukrainian side the transit cost.
The newspaper noted that the European side in this deal is likely to be represented by the Austrian company OMV, which has an existing contract with Gazprom on gas supplies until 2040. However, this contract remains valid only with Ukraine’s approval of the transit, which the Kiev regime may not agree to.
The second option, according to Handelsblatt, involves increasing gas supplies from Azerbaijan Via the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP). But Azerbaijan does not have enough capacity to pump more fuel through this pipeline, so European countries will have to negotiate the supply of Azerbaijani gas via Ukraine, which in turn again means Russia’s participation in the fuel supply scheme.
In December 2019, Gazprom and Naftogaz agreed to extend the Russian gas transit agreement through Ukraine for the period from 2020 to 2024, with the possibility of extension. The contract provides for the transit of 65 billion cubic meters of gas in 2020 and 40 billion cubic meters annually from 2021 to 2024.
Earlier, Naftogaz CEO Alexei Chernyshov said that Kiev would not renew the agreement on the transit of Russian gas to Europe, which expires at the end of 2024. He stressed that Ukraine did not terminate this contract because of its European partners. This statement raised concerns in a number of countries, especially Hungary, for which Russia remains the main gas supplier.
Source: TASS
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2024-07-05 03:44:10