Naftogaz Ukrainy will send to Russia's Gazprom an offer to begin negotiations on revision of the tariff on the transit of natural gas in the near future, Yuriy Vitrenko, chief commercial officer of Naftogaz, said on ZIK television.

In his arguments in the Stockholm arbitration regarding the need to revise the tariffs, Naftogaz used the new rules of pricing of gas transportation services in the country adopted by the national regulator (the National Commission for Energy, Housing and Utilities Service Regulation). Naftogaz also referred to the negotiations earlier offered to Gazprom on the need to revise the transit tariff from 2010 in accordance with the European rules.

The arbitration declined the Naftogaz claims on the first argument as the introduction and use in Ukraine of new energy legislation adopted in the country lie outside its terms of reference and it should be done by the Ukrainian regulator.

In the second argument, the arbitration found the letter on negotiations on revising the transit tariff sent to Gazprom to fall short of the formal requirements.

"The tribunal also declined those claims, saying: look, the letter that you sent in 2010, which, as you say, was a demand for a revision of the tariff, does not meet any formal requirements, and therefore we cannot revise such tariff. But you know what Naftogaz is now working on? On a new letter, which will meet all formalities," he said.

"We will now make sure that the letter on tariff revision will meet all requirements and it will be sent to Gazprom in the near future," Vitrenko said.

In accordance with the procedure, that should be followed by negotiations, he said. If the parties cannot reach agreements, Naftogaz can file a lawsuit with the Stockholm arbitration.