Kyiv will not renew the contract for the transit of Russian gas to Europe with Gazprom, but is ready to use the transit infrastructure to transport Azerbaijani gas.
Currently, writes Bloomberg, citing sources, Europe is discussing with Ukraine options for maintaining gas transit through Ukraine while replacing supplies with Azerbaijani ones. A representative of the Ukrainian company Naftogaz, Alexey Chernyshov, said that Ukraine has all the necessary infrastructure for transit that should be used.
The country that will benefit from Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe will be Slovakia, Bloomberg notes. The agency recalls that Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico spoke about such a transit possibility in May after a trip to Baku. According to him, if an agreement is reached, Bratislava will be able to import gas from Azerbaijan, keep part of it for itself, and send the rest to other countries.
For Russia, such a plan will be useful if transit is organized in the form of an exchange. In this case, Moscow will send its fuel to other regions.
The decision on the possible replacement of Russian gas with Azerbaijani gas may not be made before the end of the year. The agreement may be affected by the situation on the battlefield.
Let us recall that a five-year contract for the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe was signed in 2019. The main buyers are still Slovakia and Austria. Ukraine categorically refused to extend the contract with Gazprom. At the same time, Kyiv stated that European companies can rent capacity from Ukraine.
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