KIEV, Sept 19 (Askume) – A Ukrainian news outlet on Thursday denied a report that Ukraine had agreed to divert Azerbaijani gas to Europe as a temporary measure after terminating a transit deal with Russia.
Two Azerbaijani energy sources also said the report was false.
Ukraine’s Pravda newspaper quoted a Ukrainian government source as saying that Kiev understands that the EU needs time to completely abandon Russian gas and that Ukraine “takes this step to make this transition easier for the EU.”
“Ukrainian Pravda” later issued a clarification stating that government sources stressed that no natural gas transit agreement has yet been signed between Ukraine and Azerbaijan, and no relevant negotiations have taken place.
A source in Azerbaijan’s Energy Ministry and another source in its energy company SOCAR rejected the report in an interview with Askume.
Ukraine’s gas transit agreement with Russian giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) is due to expire at the end of this year, and Kiev has said it does not want to renew it amid the war between the two countries.
However, some Central European countries rely on gas from Russia, which is piped through Ukraine – as they are not subject to EU sanctions on Russian gas imports – and are keen to continue receiving supplies.
An Azerbaijani official said the EU and Kiev had asked Baku to facilitate discussions with Russia and that one possible option was for Azerbaijan to buy Russian gas so it could export some of its gas to the EU.
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry declined to comment.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said last week that he was optimistic about a breakthrough in negotiations to continue gas shipments through Ukraine to several European countries .
By 2024, Russia’s natural gas transportation volume through Ukraine is expected to reach 14 billion cubic meters.
