Ukrainian Prime Minister: We can increase gas supplies to Europe

Ukraine can additionally transport to Europe from 15 to 30 billion cubic metres of Russian gas annually.

It has been stated by Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov at a press-conference on Tuesday, Interfax informs.

“We can additionally pump 15-20-30 million (cubic metres) of gas.” He said, answering the question about reserves of the Ukrainian gas transportation system to supply Europe in case Russian-Belarusian gas conflict escalates.

Ukraine has taken a neutral position in the Russia-Belarus gas conflict, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

“On a political level, Ukraine is completely neutral on this issue: we have absolutely no plans to interfere in this economic conflict," the spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Oleh Voloshyn said.

As said by him, “it is absolutely obvious that it is a conflict between economic entities and it is related exclusively to the money issue”. “We are not going to react to that politically,” Voloshyn underlined.

Answering the question about whether deterioration of the relations between Kyiv and Minsk is possible after Russian gas transit to Europe via Ukraine increases, O. Voloshyn said that the Foreign Ministry would do everything possible to maintain normal relations with Belarus. At the same time he added: “Business is business”.