KYIV, Aug 30 – European companies should start buying Russian natural gas at the borer between Ukraine and Russia to make sure that gas transit continues through Ukrainian pipelines through 2035, Naftogaz Ukrayiny chief Yuriy Vitrenko said.

In the current setting, Gazprom of Russia sells its gas to European customers after crossing the territory of Ukraine, a practice that has been established back in the Soviet Union.

This allows Gazprom to be the sole customer of the Ukrainian pipeline system, and often dictate price and supply volumes, a reliance that bears much risk for the Ukrainian pipeline operation.

At the same time, Vitrenko noted that maintaining the transit of gas through Ukraine, at least through 2035, when natural gas is replaced by renewable energy sources, is necessary for the security of Europe.

The current gas transit contract between Gazprom and Naftogaz expires in 2024, and there is a growing concern that Gazprom will not extend the contract despite previously pledging to do so.

"If Russia does not want to play by European rules, then Nord Stream 2 should never earn money," he wrote on his Facebook page, indicating that he held meetings on these issues on Thursday and Friday with Special Representative of the Federal Government of Germany for the transit of gas through Ukraine Georg Graf von Waldersee.

Among other mechanisms to guarantee the preservation of gas transit, Vitrenko named the creation on the Gazprom Export electronic platform of a point for the supply of additional gas volumes at the Russia-Ukraine border, as well as unblocking access to the Ukrainian gas transportation system from the Russian Federation for other gas exporters to Europe, in particular from Central Asia.

"This is not a whim of Ukraine. This is the embodiment in practice of the European rules on the conformity of 'word and spirit,' mentioned by Germany and the United States in a joint statement on Nord Stream 2," Vitrenko said.

Energy Minister Herman Haluschenko also announced his meeting with Georg von Waldersee, noting that the threats to the implementation of Nord Stream 2 for the energy independence and energy security of Europe and Ukraine were discussed, and special attention was paid to guarantees of gas transit to Eastern Europe through Ukraine and the security of its supply.

"It is necessary to ensure the proper application of the Third Energy Package to Nord Stream 2 and thereby demonopolize the position of Gazprom in Europe. This is a matter of common European interest and fully corresponds to the spirit of the joint statement of Germany and the United States regarding support for Ukraine, European energy security and our climate goals," the press service of the Ministry of Energy quoted the minister as saying on Facebook on Friday. (om/ez)