The Russian gas giant Gazprom and the Ukrainian company Naftogaz signed a ten-year contract on Monday in Moscow for the supply of Russian gas to Ukraine and the terms of its transit through Ukraine to Europe, which is expected to resolve the two-week gas dispute that left a large part of Europe without this energy source.
The leaders of Gazprom and Naftogaz, Alexey Miller and OleH Dubina, signed the contracts in the presence of the Prime Ministers of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Yulia Tymoshenko. The Ukrainian Prime Minister stated after the signing that Russian gas would flow to European consumers as soon as the gas arrives in Ukraine. "We will continue the transit of gas to Europe as soon as it reaches the Ukrainian gas system. There will be no delays," Tymoshenko told reporters at a joint conference with Russian Prime Minister Putin. Putin stated that Russian Gazprom has been ordered to continue supplying gas to Europe through Ukraine in all directions. "Gazprom is ready to meet the daily needs of European gas consumers," said the Russian Prime Minister. (H)
