Energy Minister explained why Ukraine continues transit of Russian gas

Ukraine cannot stop the transit of Russian gas, because that would mean they weren’t fulfilling their obligations to European companies.

This was announced by the Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko in an interview with ‘Economichna Pravda’.

"This is a difficult situation, because we provide a transit service, and our consumers or contractors are European companies… Everyone is already saying that it is necessary to diversify supplies to Europe. This will definitely take time, it is difficult to do immediately," said Galushchenko.

According to the minister, efforts should be made to ensure that money paid for gas does not reach the Russians, but is instead "frozen".

"The key thing we are telling everyone is that you can't pay these funds to the Russians. We need to introduce separate escrow accounts to which the money for Russian energy resources will be deposited. And the matter of transferring this money to the Russians will be decided depending on how fast they leave Ukraine. These funds can be used to compensate us for our losses," he said.

According to the minister, such actions would not be considered a breach of contract, because the money would be paid, " just the Russians would not physically get their hands on it."

"Legally, it is possible to justify it," he added.

According to Galushchenko, sooner or later Ukraine will lose its role as a gas transit country.

"We have to prepare for this, and we will be able to compensate for the reduction or termination of transit, including through imports, which are already happening systematically. And Naftogaz is already taking this situation very seriously," Galushchenko said.

Read more in the interview: Minister of Energy: someone must explain to these "monkeys" that they should not shoot from tanks at nuclear facilities.

Economichna pravda