Preliminary results of the evaluation of Ukraine's gas transport system (GTS) could be announced in August, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said.
During an informal meeting with the Club of Editors in Chief of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Baltic Countries and Georgia in Crimea, the president said that Ukraine hired western experts to audit the national GTS and determine its objective value and technical condition.
"The experts are working and we hope to receive preliminary estimation of the system in August. The market price of the system will become clear in August," the head of state noted.
Yanukovych also said that Russia, Ukraine, and Europe want to see the effective work of the Ukrainian GTS.
The president said the national GTS should be modernized and its pumping capacity should be increased. According to Yanukovych, the implementation of the project requires major funding.
"Our main task is to preserve the system, modernize it, invest funds into it and ensure its stable work," the president said.
He added that the process of forming a gas transport consortium should be legal, transparent, and that Ukraine is eager to have reliable, stable partners in the issue.
"I'll certainly raise this issue tomorrow [at the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin]. Creation of the gas transport consortium will noticeably improve Ukraine-Russia relations in the gas sphere," he said.
As reported, the presidents of Ukraine and Russia will chair the fifth meeting of Ukrainian-Russian Interstate Commission on July 12.
