Vitrenko: Naftogaz to mull filing claims to intl arbitration to transfer gas sales points to Ukraine-Russian border

Naftogaz Ukrainy will consider the possibility of filing claims in international arbitration for the transfer of gas sale points to the Ukraine-Russia border, Naftogaz Head Yuriy Vitrenko has said.

"The new [transit] contract allows applying to international arbitration, and we will also consider and use this opportunity," he said during an online conference in Kyiv.

According to the head of the company, if earlier Gazprom referred to the impossibility of selling gas to European companies under their agreements with the Russian monopolist on the Ukraine-Russian border due to the inconsistency of the previously valid transit contract with EU legislation, then after signing a new contract under standard European rules in December 2019, this counterargument has disappeared.

Earlier, in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine, Vitrenko said that Naftogaz did not use in full its legal power to put pressure on Gazprom through the EU antimonopoly body to move the points of sale of Russian gas to European companies to the Ukraine-Russian border.

According to him, resolving the issue of transferring gas sales points to the Ukrainian-Russian border will increase the load on the Ukrainian gas transmission system (GTS) and reduce the price of gas on the Ukrainian market.

Vitrenko also considers it necessary to put pressure on Russia to unblock the export of Central Asian gas to Europe and provide such export opportunities to independent Russian producers.

Source: www.en.interfax.com.ua