Transit contract to stay effective until end of 2019 regardless of Gazprom's going to arbitration

21:16, 05.03.2018 1 min read

The gas transit contract with Gazprom will stay effective until the end of 2019 regardless of the Russian company's plans to sever it through the Stockholm arbitration, a Naftogaz Ukrainy official said.

"If no agreements are reached within 45 days [the time allowed by the contract for pre-trial settlement] and if Gazprom goes to arbitration, the arbitration will last for years. In our view, nothing will happen from a practical point of view, the contract will stay effective until the end of 2019 [until the final date envisaged by the document]," Naftogaz Chief Commercial Officer Yuriy Vitrenko told a press conference in Kyiv on Monday.

The only possible exception is only if Gazprom takes actions outside the legal field, he said.