MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. In the course of negotiations in Vienna, the Russian and the Ukrainian side have so far been unable to agree on texts of gas transit agreements as of Saturday night, the head of Ukraine's oil and gas company Naftogaz, Andrey Kobolev, said.
"During the past few days, our team worked with the Russians to agree on texts of treaties for implementation of the protocol signed in Minsk. It is clear that we are bargaining about every comma. Certain progress has been made, but, as of now, there have been no agreed texts of those deals," he wrote on his Facebook page.
According to the Naftogaz chief, three documents are being discussed. One of them is a deal between Ukraine’s new gas transit system operator, the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine, determining the technical guidelines and rules of interaction between the operators. Besides, the negotiators are working on a treaty to organize transit between Naftogaz and Gazprom, and on a settlement agreement, in which both companies waive their claims regarding the 2009 contracts.
The talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Vienna continue since Thursday.
On December 20, Moscow and Kiev announced that a new gas transit contract was agreed for the term of five years, and that mutual settlements between Gazprom and Naftogaz of Ukraine were settled. The parties agreed to waive new mutual claims and withdraw existing mutual claims. Gazprom should pay around $2.9 bln to Naftogaz by the year-end under the decision made by the Stockholm Arbitration. Moreover, an amicable settlement was agreed on antitrust proceedings against Gazprom in Ukraine. On Friday, Gazprom reported that the amount had been paid to Naftogaz.
Earlier on Saturday the Ukrainian government approved signing of an amicable agreement with Gazprom. The amicable agreement settles the claims of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine against Russia's Gazprom amounting to around $7 bln. Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said earlier this week that the sides would sign an amicable agreement on December 19, after which all claims would be withdrawn and attachments of Gazprom’s property in Europe would be lifted.
Moreover, the agreements stipulate that Gazprom will sign an interconnection agreement with ‘Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine’, and a transport agreement on booking the Ukrainian gas transport system’s facilities with Naftogaz of Ukraine. Naftogaz will act as organizer of transit thus taking the transit period risks.