Ukraine should prepare for the full termination of Russian gas transit from early 2020, although the preparations are endangered over the stunning decline in own gas production, in particular, by Naftogaz-managed company Ukrgazvydobuvannia, Executive Director of national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy Yuriy Vitrenko has said, according to Interfax.

“If we compare the average daily production, which was achieved in December 2018, with the data for June 2019, the decline in daily gas production at Ukrgazvydobuvannia is already 9.2%. The first days of July show even more threatening trends,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

The representative of Naftogaz said that the company is forced to wait for the termination of transit through Ukraine not only in the first quarter of 2020, but also in general after the end of 2019.

Vitrenko recalled that the position of Naftogaz remains the same: the company continues struggling to preserve the transit of Russian gas after 2019, for this it will need the help of international partners, in particular, the involvement of the European Commission in the transit negotiations with Gazprom.

“We welcomed and continue to welcome the participation of the European Commission and the Ukrainian government in these negotiations. We do not believe that this problem can be resolved exclusively at the level of relations between Gazprom and Naftogaz, since it has long been obvious that Gazprom’s position on ending transit through Ukraine is due precisely to political factors, and not economic,” the executive director of Naftogaz said.