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Ukraine’s Naftogaz ready to consider settlement with Gazprom

The parties agreed to continue negotiations in fall

© Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS

KIEV, July 18. /TASS/. The management of Naftogaz of Ukraine is ready to consider a settlement with the Russian gas holding Gazprom within the framework of the dispute underway in the Stockholm Arbitration, chief executive of the company Andrei Kobolev said on Wednesday.

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Russia ready to extend current contract on gas transit via Ukraine — energy minister

"Our position: we can consider your proposals regarding the settlement but they definitely should not interfere with talks on a new contract and we are definitely not ready to do so in a trilateral format, losing time of our partners and providing an opportunity to say that we are negotiating something, while they will prepare a stronghold for the Nord Stream 2," Kobolev said, cited by Naftogaz press service.

The settlement deal between Gazprom and Naftogaz is not ruled out but no decisions were made so far and the parties agreed to continue negotiations in fall, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday after trilateral gas talks among Russia, the European Union and Ukraine.

The Stockholm Arbitration made a decision in February 2018 in disputes between Gazprom and Naftogaz related to gas supply and transit contracts. The court bound the Russian holding to pay $2.56 bln to Naftogaz for short supply of transit gas subject to $2 bln debt of the Ukrainian company confirmed earlier by the court.

Gazprom appealed against these decisions and initiated a contract termination procedure with Naftogaz. The Ukrainian company announced initiation of an enforcement procedure through arrest of Gazprom’s assets. Gazprom in its turn managed to achieve suspension of arbitration award enforcement under the transit contract. The court of appeal in Sweden turned down objections of Naftogaz to that decision.

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