Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has suggested that the South Stream pipeline project be run on land through his country, and that it would cost a lot less.
"South Stream should run on land in the south of Ukraine. That project is much less expensive than the EUR 25 billion South Stream project considered now. Ours would be five times cheaper," Yanukovych said at the eight annual Ukraine and the World: Common Challenges, Common Future meeting in Yalta.
"We propose to our partners in Europe and Russia a flexible approach to cooperation," the president said.
The idea of creating a gas-transport consortium with Europe’s involvement as a consumer, Russia’s as a supplier, and Ukraine’s as a transit country is still open, Yanukovych said. "This discussion lies ahead," he said.
Commenting on the threat to Ukraine caused by bypassing gas pipeline projects – Nord Stream and South Stream – Yanukovych compared it to a situation in which "bullets strike closer and closer."
Negative outcomes from the negotiations between Naftogaz Ukrainy and Gazprom are not to be expected, Yanukovych said.
"The hotheads are making different predictions. We are calm about this, are keeping our finger on the pulse, but we will be asserting our national interests. I’m confident a resolution will be found," the president said.
The dialog underway now is absolutely natural, he said. Ukraine has been, is, and will be a strategic partner for Russia, and the current agenda of mutual relations is much broader than just the one issue of gas, he said.
The throughput capacity of the international South Stream gas pipeline system should be 63 billion cubic meters.
It will be used to move Russian gas across the Black Sea to Southern and Central Europe, bypassing Ukraine.
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