Moscow admitted that it will have to make concessions to Ukraine
The operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline under construction, Nord Stream 2 AG, acknowledged the possibility of delaying the commissioning of the facility due to the position of Denmark, which will give some advantage to the Ukrainian side.
This opinion was expressed in a conversation with Izvestia by the head of the analytical department of the National Energy Security Fund, Alexander Pasechnik.
He stated that the long-term contract between Gazprom and Naftogaz for the transit of Russian gas to the EU ends at the end of 2019, clarifying that it is currently unknown whether the contract will be extended.
“Ukraine and I have different positions. We would like to leave Ukrainian transit as an annex to strategic directions. We can leave 15–20 billion cubic meters a year there. Kyiv wants to receive from 40 billion, and connects such volumes with profitability. With smaller volumes, the Ukrainian system will supposedly not pay for itself. In my opinion, these are baseless appeals,” Pasechnik said.
He added that Gazprom’s 10-year supply horizon is not very interesting, and therefore it would be optimal for the Russian Federation to extend contracts with additional agreements every new season.
However, in the situation that has developed with the launch of Nord Stream 2, the analyst says, “the Russian side will have to make certain concessions.”
“In general, the strategic position of Russian suppliers will not be greatly affected by the postponement of the opening of the gas pipeline. However, the Danish government has so far achieved tactical success in its bid to delay construction. Another question is that politically such a limited victory could turn out to be Pyrrhic if the EU states and companies that have suffered losses remind the Danes of their intransigence, which can hardly be explained by any fundamental national interests,” the publication notes.
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