The FINANCIAL — Verkhovna Rada deputy of the Our Ukraine People's Self-Defense Bloc faction-former chairman of the parliament Arsenii Yatseniuk calls for authorization of Ukraine to extract natural gas in Russia in exchange for Russia's participation in the control over the Ukrainian gas transport system, he told this to the Echo of Moscow radio station.
"My model is simple. There is a company. The 51-percent stake in this company belongs to Ukraine, and other assets can be exchanged for gas on one hand and access to the end consumer on the other hand," the deputy said.
Yatseniuk said that Ukraine is interested in creation of a company for management of the gas transport system and obtain the access to the gas exploration in Russia in exchange.
He also said that the gas transport system should remain the property of Ukraine.
"I strongly oppose the privatization of the gas transport system," Yatseniuk said.
He said that if Ukraine launched own production of gas on the territory of Russia, Ukraine could manage to supply itself with the gas and compensate the shortage Ukrainian economy suffers from.
He said that extracting 20 billion cubic meters of own gas, Ukrainian economy consumes about twice as much as the Polish one.
Besides, Yatseniuk said that the additional gas would allow Ukraine to enter the European gas delivery market.
The third participant of the company for management of the gas transport system could be European companies, the format speaker said.
He also said that the sides should provide the secure delivery and secure transit.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Ukraine and Russia agreed to create the international gas consortium in 2002.
Ukraine's Naftohaz Ukrainy national joint-stock company and Russia's Gazprom gas company registered the consortium in January 2003, with each of them owning a 50% stake in it.
Naftohaz Ukrainy, Gazprom, and Ruhrgas AG (Germany) agreed the terms for the German company's inclusion in the international gas consortium in May 2004, but Ruhrgas AG was never included in the consortium.
The gas transport consortium was created in a format that provides for construction of the Bohorodchany-Uzhhorod gas pipeline and inclusion of the idling Torzhok-Dolyna and Ivatsevychy-Dolyna mini-gas pipelines.
The Bohorodchany-Uzhhorod gas pipeline has a design capacity of 19 billion cubic meters per year; the cost of its construction is about USD 560 million.
Naftohaz Ukrainy and Gazprom agreed in April 2007 to step up their cooperation on implementation of the gas transport consortium's project.
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