The Ukrainian gas transportation system (GTS) was and will be a state property, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk has said.

"The GTS can only be operated by a company in which the state has a majority stake, i.e. 51%, the remaining 49% will be held exclusively by Europeans companies from the EU and the U.S., which have appropriate certificates and licenses," he said at a briefing on Monday.

Hopefully, the parliament will pass the bill "On changes to several Ukrainian laws reforming the management system of the Ukrainian GTS" at its extraordinary session on Thursday, he said.

Under the bill, the final list of the GTS managing company members must be approved by the country's parliament, Yatseniuk said.