OREANDA-NEWS. The Ukrainian authorities may not have time to solve the task of implementing the provisions of the Third Energy Package before the end of 2019, the head of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, said at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. According to him, in this case, the only way to continue pumping Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe will be the extension of the existing contract.

According to Miller, until the moment when the Ukrainian authorities adopt European legislation, "still far enough away". “And in the event that by January 1, 2020 an independent gas transmission operator and an independent regulator aren't created in Ukraine, the only way is to extend the existing contract in new market conditions that have been updated to date”, he said.

According to Miller, it's also necessary to get an answer from Kiev on how much Ukraine will buy Russian gas: it depends on what transport capacities should be reserved for supplies and how much will remain free for transit.