Ukraine did not steal gas and subsidized Russia, and not vice versa - head of Naftogaz
Statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ukraine carried out unauthorized withdrawals of Russian gas and that Moscow actually subsidized Ukraine by supplying gas at low prices are untrue.
This was stated by the head of the board of Naftogaz of Ukraine, Yuriy Vitrenko, at a briefing in Kyiv, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“He said that someone was stealing gas in Ukraine. I have been working at Naftogaz intermittently for many years, and during all this time there has not been a single case when Ukraine or Naftogaz stole Russian gas. These statements from Russia were made, for example, in the Stockholm arbitration, but they were not supported by anything and we very easily refuted in the arbitration that these were all speculations, accusations that had no basis.
Mr. Putin also said that allegedly because of low prices Russia helped Ukraine, there were some preferences there. So, the truth is the opposite of what gentlemen Putin says. On the contrary, Ukraine overpaid for gas and received less money for transit. We proved this in the Stockholm arbitration. There was a representative of Gazprom there, and he even agreed that Ukraine was under-receiving for transit and overpaying for gas.
We were limited by the contract that we signed in 2009. If we bought gas simply according to European rules, then the difference between what we actually paid Russia and what we would have to pay if everything happened according to European rules is $52 billion - just for the period from 2009 to 2019
That is, it was Ukraine that actually gave subsidies to Russia, it was precisely the colonial policy that Mr. Putin pursued towards Ukraine that led to the fact that money was actually siphoned out of Ukraine and went to Moscow,” Vitrenko said.
Ukraine didn't steal gas and subsidize Russia, not the other way around – Naftogaz CEO