Russia is going to need Ukraine for natural gas shipments for a while yet.
Moscow-based Gazprom PJSC will need Ukraine’s gas system, a key route for supplies of Siberian fuel to Europe, well beyond 2019 when the existing transit agreement expires, said Andriy Kobolyev, chief executive officer of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine. The two sides have a strained relationship, with Gazprom seeking to end the current accord early after losing a multibillion-dollar arbitration case to its Kyiv-based counterpart.
