All news

Ukraine will not compensate EU’s losses in case of gas transit disruption

“In fact, Ukraine has achieved the impossible – the talks settled the terms of Ukrainian farm and metal export

KIEV, October 26 (Itar-Tass) —— Ukraine will not bear financial responsibility for a disruption of gas supplies to the EU, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Klyuyev said on Wednesday.

According to the official, an agreement to that effect was achieved between the two sides during his recent visit to Brussels for talks on the conclusion of a free trade zone agreement and an agreement of association with the EU countries. Klyuyev said that at his meetings some other agreements of fundamental importance to his country had been concluded.

“In fact, Ukraine has achieved the impossible – the talks settled the terms of Ukrainian farm and metal export. Also, it was agreed that Ukraine would not bear financial responsibility for a termination of gas supplies to the EU,” Klyuyev said. He pointed out that initially the European Union came out with a discriminatory condition to demand that Ukraine should compensate for losses European companies might sustain in case of a disruption of gas transit through Ukraine.

Klyuyev said that the talks were tough-going, because “when there is the economy on the agenda, either party presses for its own national interests.” Despite this, he said, the participants in the talks managed to agree all key parameters of a future agreement on the free trade zone. The deputy prime minister said once again that only “technical nuances” were to be finalized at the level of experts, while the text of the document would be ready for signature by the end of this year.