Ukrainian energy minister tells European Commission about Kyiv's position on Hungary's gas contract with Russia

BRUSSELS. Sept 29 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Energy Minister Herman Haluschenko has told to the European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson about the position of official Kyiv regarding the recently signed contract for the supply of Russian gas to Hungary bypassing Ukraine.

As a representative of the European Commission told Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday in Brussels, commenting on the meeting of high officials, Minister Haluschenko raised the issue of the recently signed contract between MVM and Gazprom for gas supplies to Hungary and presented Ukraine’s position. Commissioner Simson listened to the minister’s opinion and explained to him the role of the Commission in assessing such a contract in accordance with EU supply security legislation. Commissioner Simson also reaffirmed the Commission’s well-known position that the EU considers Ukraine to be a reliable transit country, the official said.

In addition, according to him, during the meeting, the European Commissioner emphasized the importance of ongoing reforms in Ukraine both in the electricity and gas markets, the Commission’s support for synchronization with the EU power grid and the readiness to facilitate this process by adopting a roadmap with concrete steps and benchmarks. The European Commissioner and the Minister exchanged views on ways to facilitate Ukraine’s transition to clean energy and on the status of programs to improve the safety of nuclear power plants, the representative of the Commission added.