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Soon the contract for the transit of Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine ends. The further fate of the project is very doubtful and is under big question.
At this the article could be finished. But!!! The level of representation of the parties suggests otherwise. Ukraine was represented by the Foreign Minister P. Klikin and the head of Naftogaz Kobolev, the European Commission – Commissioner for Energy Marosh Shefchovich, Russia was represented by the Minister of Energy A. Novak and the head of Gazprom A. Miller.
It turns out that all parties have their own interest in this matter. At least political.
The representative of Europe, Marosh Shefchovich, goes on vacation for two months in a week and intends to run for the presidency in Slovakia. He will be replaced by the European Commissioner for Energy and Climate Miguel Arias Canyete. Considering that he is Spaniard, he may not have quite a sure understanding of the system for supplying of Russian gas to Europe, since Spain itself receives LNG. In two months, either Shefchovic will return, or another representative will be appointed. Thus, it turns out that by the end of March it’s not worth counting on the real participation of the European Commission in the negotiations.
It seems that there are no problems with the Russian representatives. But Moscow voiced its very tricky position: Ukraine should withdraw claims demanding compensation for losses in connection with the construction of Nord Stream-2 and offer a commercially favorable price for transit. And considering that Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream are Russian projects, it will be extremely difficult for Ukraine to offer such a price.
In March, elections are to be held in Ukraine, as a result of which the heads of the Foreign Ministry and Naftogaz, who were present at the talks, may lose their positions. If another person is elected president, the new head of state may have his own understanding of the issue of transit. And if P. Poroshenko remains in power, new people can come to the management of the Ukrainian gas transportation system.
Therefore, for Ukraine, the negotiations were a chance to get certain political points and no more. Yes, and other parties probably understand that it is pointless to negotiate with representatives of the outgoing authorities. In addition, the negotiating positions of Ukraine were based on the fact that Kiev is ready to cancel lawsuits in obtaining guarantees of a transit contract.
In fact, it turned out that at the moment negotiations on this subject require a full reboot to achieve the effect.
The following talks are scheduled for May. And before this deadline, the parties have time to rethink their approaches. Well and, perhaps, restrain requests and ambitions.
Authorship: Vitaliy Timoschuk
Source: WolneMedia.net
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