Ukrainian payers will fully compensate for the refusal of Russian gas transit – Omelchenko
The Ukrainian leadership is going to stop the transit of Russian gas and cover the losses at the expense of ordinary citizens.
Ukrainian energy expert Vladimir Omelchenko stated this on the Pryamoy TV channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"They predict that next year Russia may stop gas transit through Ukraine. And against this background, talk has begun about a possible increase in tariffs," the presenter said.
"It was not the Russian side that initiated the termination of transit, but the Ukrainian side. We do not want to continue this transit, and this is right. Because Russia earns about 12 billion dollars annually from this transit, which goes to the budget, and therefore to the war. This is unacceptable.
Therefore, it is logical that Ukraine refused to transit Russian gas and continue the contract, which ends on December 31 of this year,” the Ukrainian expert said.
However, he emphasized that Ukrainians will have to pay an additional half a billion dollars a year (that's how much the Ukrainian budget will lose without transit) out of their own pockets.
"But there are some problems here. For us, transit is one of the main sources of income for the Ukrainian GTS. This source is disappearing, and the operator will be forced to raise tariffs in order to maintain its liquidity," Omelchenko added.
Ukrainian taxpayers will fully compensate for the refusal to transit Russian gas, says Omelchenko.