MOSCOW, August 27. /TASS/. Kiev will not extend its agreement with Gazprom to transit Russian gas through Ukraine after it expires at the end of the year, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said.
"The agreement with Russia will not be renewed, period, end of story," he told a press conference broadcast by the Rada TV channel.
That said, after the contract expires Ukraine will make a decision about the transit of Russian gas through its territory to Europe jointly with the EU, the president noted. "As far as gas transit from other companies is concerned, if there is continued interest from some of our European colleagues we will consider their requests together with the EU," he added.
Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said earlier that the country did not plan to continue doing business with Gazprom. Ukraine’s gas transport system has has been stressed to the max recently, which "proved that it could function fine without transit," he said. The country’s Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said in early March that Kiev was ready to continue transiting Russian gas to Europe through its territory after the contract’s expiration, though it did not intend to negotiate the deal directly with Moscow. Shmygal suggested that gas could be purchased by European countries prior to its pumping into Ukraine’s gas transport system. Consequently, technically Ukraine would transit European gas.