Dnipropetrovsk, May 20 (Interfax) - The signed agreements between Russia and Ukraine on gas transits and lease extension for Russia's Black Sea Fleet in Crimea offer "more questions than answers", said Ukraine's ex-President Leonid Kuchma.
Ukraine must charge a market fee for transiting Russian gas, he told a press conference in Dnipropetrovsk on Thursday, May 20.
"If the gas has a market price, then give the market price for transit too. And why for ten years, why not a market price? And one more question: Russia offers no guarantees on quantities to be transited," Kuchma said.
The rent price for the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean port of Sevastopol is also unclear, the ex-president said.
"Why has the price for the Sevastopol base remained at 97 million? This is the 1997 price! We do not need to barter: We decrease the gas price and it would count towards the Black Sea Fleet base. More questions than answers. Russia should always be regarded only from the point of view of national interest," the ex-president said.
At the same time he welcomed the outcomes of the meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders in Kyiv on May 17-18.
"Overall, I see it as a positive visit: This is a continuation of the strategic course that existed under me and under premier Yanukovych [the incumbent Ukrainian president]," Kuchma said.
The Kharkiv agreements are consistent with the transition provisions of the Ukrainian Constitution, and one should cooperate with Russia, he also said.
"To cooperate – yes, to set up a gas transportation consortium – yes, if Russia gives us a technical loan, a nuclear complex must be built. A control stake in aircraft construction must be held by Ukraine, otherwise we simply will turn into a design bureau. Russia is keen on Ukrainian Antonov An-70, particularly, An-124-100 aircraft. We must cooperate in ship building and on space as well," Kuchma said.
There have to be cooperation rules, he said.
"Everything must be transparent and one should always defend one’s national interest," the ex-president said.
