CEO of Naftogaz Ukrainy Andriy Kobolev has acknowledged gas supply problems in a number of Ukrainian cities if Gazprom refuses to sign a new transit contract and terminates transit of Russian gas from January 1, 2020, but he counts on help in resolving these problems by raising this issue in the Stockholm arbitration.

"We have certain problems in those cities that are directly powered from the territory of Ukraine or Moldova, where there may potentially be technical problems that we, as Naftogaz or the new operator, can already influence," he said on the air of the Svoboda Slova (Freedom of Speech) program on ICTV Channel.

"But even these issues have recently been raised in the new Stockholm arbitration, and we hope that they will help solve them," Kobolev said.

He emphasized that Naftogaz did everything possible to prepare for a potential suspension of transit from January 1, 2020: record gas reserves were accumulated, the gas transportation system was tested and repaired, and quick response mechanisms are ready.

At the same time, he recalled that Russia often used gas for political pressure, and also stated that it would be beneficial for Gazprom and a number of European gas companies to create an artificial gas crisis in order to raise the price of gas in the market.

"Therefore, we hope for a good option, but we are ready for the bad," he said.