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Moscow will not be able to run their notorious gas pipelines to Europe bypassing the Ukrainian territory until 2020.
Illustration / REUTERS
December 31, 2019 long-term contract between Ukraine and Russia on gas transit will be completed, as well as deadlines of projects for the construction of Russian gas pipeline “Nord stream-2” and “Turkish stream”.
This dual deadline Moscow is trying to use to create maximum pressure on Kiev. The Russian side wants Kiev to choose between the loss of all revenues from the transit of Russian conditions on the use of the Ukrainian GTS as a backup option, writes Forbes.
But Russia wants to extend the transit contract signed in 2009 “Gazprom”. Ukraine does not agree and wants to hold the next talks on the issue in March. The Russian side insists on may or June, hoping that at that time in Kiev there will be more loyal to the President. On 17 January President of Russia Vladimir Putin said that, in the end, his country can continue the transit of gas through Ukraine to Europe after the completion of the construction of “Nord stream-2” and “Turkish stream.”
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This may indicate that Moscow admits that it will not be able to complete a controversial pipeline to Germany by the end of the year. And to avoid interruptions in the export of gas, it needs a contract with Ukraine, which will start from 1 January 2020.
The Kremlin clearly understands that, most likely, with the start of operation of the new GTS will have to wait. After all the controversy surrounding the “Nord stream-2” do not cease. The European Commission is trying to subordinate the laws of the EU “Turkish stream-2”, which will introduce latency and problems with the construction of the ground part. In addition, the US sanctions threaten companies that participate in the project “Northern stream-2”.