Ukraine in Arabic | The next gas talk round between Russian and Ukraine will be held tomorrow
KYIV/Ukraine in Arabic/ Finance Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Shlapak said that the next round of gas talks between Ukraine and Russia with the participation of the European Commission scheduled for October 29 in Brussels will bring no success.
"I think, no [they won't agree tomorrow]. I have an impression that no one wants to agree. First I mean Russia," told reporters at the A Fresh Look at Ukraine international investment conference organized by SP Advisors in Kyiv on Tuesday.
The minister said that the absence of the result during the negotiations on Wednesday does not mean a failure of the preliminary agreements reached earlier.
He said that Russia is also interested in restoring the volumes of gas supplies the country is not able to supply today neither to Europe nor to Ukraine.
"Maybe, Gazprom suffers today most of all from the sharp reduction of gas sales. I'm not sure that they will put forward absolutely foolish demands," he said.
He reminded that the preliminary agreements include the payment of $1.4 billion of debt to restore supplies of gas stopped in June 2014.
"If we don't sign now and sign a little bit later this means that we'll postpone," Shlapak said.
He said that $3.1 billion required to pay the debt are staying at the escrow accounts at the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).