OREANDA-NEWS. September 11, 2015. “The construction of Nord Stream-2 is an anti-European and anti-Ukrainian project", announced Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk following his meeting with Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico in the framework of the working visit to Bratislava.

The negotiations of Heads of Governments lasted 2 and half hours.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk stressed that when the first Nord Stream gas pipeline had been built, "Ukraine was deprived of US \\$ 1.5 billion of revenue from gas transit".

In addition, he stressed, "it has not entailed additional energy independence for the European Union": "What's the difference where to get gas, if you have the same supplier?"

He accentuated that the construction of Nord Stream-2 would result for the European Union into "the loss of the possibility to conduct direct gas deliveries through Ukraine along the shortest path": "The amount of such losses makes up 140 billion cubic meters of gas that can be pumped through the Ukrainian gas transport system".

"Nord Stream-2 project jeopardizes the safety and continuity of gas supplies to the South-Eastern European countries. This means the monopolization of ways to supply natural gas to the European Union, and therefore, the price hikes for ultimate gas consumers in the EU. It would also lead to losses for our Slovak friends and partners worth approximately 800 million dollars in revenues," urged the Head of the Ukrainian Government.

According to Arseniy Yatsenyuk, for Ukraine the construction of Nord Stream-2 entails "exclusion from the transit supplies to the European Union”: “It would result into the loss of 2 billion dollars in revenues that we receive for transit flows and safe gas supplies to the European Union".

"It isn't fair either with respect to our European partners or to Ukraine," he stressed.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk reminded that the Government of Ukraine had decided to establish a joint venture to operate the Ukrainian gas transport system: "Up to 49% shares of the joint venture for the management and modernization of the Ukrainian GTS can be owned by operator companies of the EU countries and the United States of America".

"Once again we appeal to our European partners. You have to become partners demonstrating real actions. Let's jointly operate the Ukrainian gas transport system. This will enable gas transit to the European Union. It will not allow Russia's Gazprom to have a monopoly on the European market. And it will give a chance to really modernize the Ukrainian gas transport system," said the Ukrainian Prime Minister.

"I believe that the European Commission won’t just pay attention to it, but the right decision will be adopted, the decision based on European values, instead of price", said Arseniy Yatsenyuk.