UKRAINE VS RUSSIA: NO PIPELINE

The Ukrainian authorities are ready to lease the country's gas transportation network to all foreign companies, except Russian entities, Naftogaz head Andrei Kobolev said in an interview on Ukrainian television.

He stressed that Kiev would take into consideration the European experience in leasing concession. The top manager pointed out that Gazprom, the Russian power giant, tried to obtain control over large EU pipelines, but those attempts proved unsuccessful.

Kobolev said that a set of effective measures would help Ukraine to exclude Russian companies from the potential operators. According to Kobolev, Kiev plans to thoroughly study its partners' activity, to discover Russian companies among pipeline shareholders.

Furthermore, the Ukrainian government intends to restrict the right to transfer any gas pipeline ownership to Russian business entities.

oilandgaseurasia.com