Kiev, 9 April - Neftegaz.RU. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko invites European partners to manage the Ukrainian transit gas pipeline by joint efforts, noting that Nord Stream 2 is an economically unjustified project and is just a bribe for loyalty. He said this in an interview with the Handelsblatt on the eve of his visit to Germany, ukrainian Ukrinform reported today.
«There is a Ukrainian transit pipeline. It is much cheaper. It can be easily modernized and it won’t be expensive. It is capable of transiting up to 100 billion cubic meters of raw materials annually. In 2017, it was about 94-97 billion, which corresponded to an increase in transit volumes by 15%. It can be easily modernized. We would be glad to involve our European partners in managing the gas company», he said.
He once again expressed the opinion that German politicians and German companies should carefully re-examine the attitude towards the Nord Stream 2, which «is a purely political project financed by Russia.»
«Excuse me for harsh words, but Nord Stream 2 is a political bribe in exchange for loyalty to the Russian Federation, which aims to impose the economic and energy blockade on Ukraine, thus causing significant damage to my country,» Petro Poroshenko emphasized.
When asked to comment on the statement of certain companies that gas transit would be cheaper due to Nord Stream 2, Poroshenko stressed that the transit route via Ukraine could be built without significant investment «instead of spending EUR 10 billion on Nord Stream 2.»
Ukraine is the reliable partner, the Head of State assured. «When Russia suspended gas deliveries in early March and no longer supplies gas in spite of the made advanced payments, I, as the President, called on my people to consume less gas in order not to harm the gas transit to Europe and not to cause criticism. We adhere to our commitments. We are the absolutely reliable partner. Meanwhile, the Nord Stream 2 is a purely politically motivated project,» Poroshenko said.
At the same time, the President of Ukraine called Russia an unreliable energy supplier. In particular, Poroshenko recalled that Ukraine recently won the trial at the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, but Gazprom refused to transfer $4.6 billion as ordered in the judgment.
«Many people are now asking why Gazprom refuses to pay Ukraine the sum specified by the court. Because they do not want to pay and consider the judgment to be ‘wrong.’ At the same time, the European suppliers now think whether Gazprom could do the same to them in some controversial cases. This example only proves once again that Russia is an extremely unreliable partner, including in the energy sector,» Poroshenko summed up.
