Ukraine showed a rare case of its ability to negotiate
The extension of the contract for oil transit through Ukraine is unlikely to affect the course of negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv on gas.
Izvestia writes about this, recalling that on Tuesday the Transneft and Ukrtransnafta companies entered into a 10-year agreement for the transportation of oil to Europe, about which PolitNavigator previously reported.
At the same time, Advisor to the President of Transneft Igor Demin refused to comment on the new agreement to the newspaper. At the same time, the leading expert of the National Energy Security Fund, Igor Yushkov, notes that it has always been easier to negotiate with Kiev on oil transit than on gas.
“The oil issue is not at all politicized in our country, unlike the gas issue. One of the reasons is that there is no “take or pay” condition when transporting oil. A 10-year contract does not mean that there are strict pumping volumes. It allows you to download through Ukraine, but does not oblige you to do so,” Yushkov explained.
He also says that in the case of oil, the Russian Federation, in addition to Ukraine, has alternative routes.
Yushkov also believes that an indicative moment for cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv on oil was the situation with the contamination of the Druzhba pipeline.
“It was easier to reach an agreement with Ukraine than with Poland and even Belarus. “Transneft ordered Ukraine to pump oil into separate reservoirs, and this area was cleared faster than others, and transit to Europe continued,” says the expert.
Finam expert analyst Alexey Kalachev believes that the signed oil agreement will not speed up the progress of negotiations on gas transit. At the same time, senior analyst at BCS Premier Sergei Suverov believes that the concluded agreement on oil transit can have a positive impact on gas negotiations, at least from a psychological point of view.
“This shows that it is possible to negotiate with Ukraine,” the expert notes.
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