Ukraine imports gas in reverse mode from Europe entirely in keeping with international law, Ukrainian Deputy Energy and Coal Minister Volodomyr Makukha told reporters.
“It’s an absolutely legal and clean arrangement: gas crosses the Ukrainian border, so what questions can there be?” Makhukha said.
He said Ukraine would not employ means that transgress international law.
Alexei Miller, the chief executive of Russia’s Gazprom, has Ukraine’s gas imports from Europe “smack of fraudulent schemes.”
“Now as regards the reverse supplies of gas from the territory of the European Union to Ukraine – we know about these plans very well, but we have suspicion that it isn’t about any reverse supplies. De facto, there would physically be no gas involved – the plan is to use Gazprom gas in a kind of virtual reverse direction,” Alexei Miller said.
“In other words, Gazprom gas moves into Europe and immediately turns back and goes to Ukraine,” Miller said. “It doesn’t just get pumped across,” he said, claiming that Ukraine would transmit gas provided by Gazprom to the border, where a measuring station would show that a certain amount of gas had gone to Europe, but then the gas would return to Ukraine.
“These schemes smack of fraudulent schemes of some kind,” Miller said.
