OREANDA-NEWS. Berlin doesn't have to compensate Kiev for anything if the transit of Russian gas through the territory of Ukraine is stopped. The head of the Bundestag Committee on Economy and Energy Klaus Ernst expressed this opinion. This is reported by Izvestia.

The parliamentarian stressed that German taxpayers do not owe Kiev anything.

"It is completely unacceptable for Germany to create its energy policy according to the interests of Ukraine. If it needs money, then it ought to turn to such international donors as the European Union," Ernst noted.

Recently, Ukraine has been regularly requiring compensation for the launch of the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Thus, President Volodymyr Zelensky wants guarantees of stable gas supply for 10-15 years. The head of the Ukrainian GTS Operator, Sergei Makogon, in his turn, expressed the opinion that a new long-term transit contract could be compensation for Ukraine for the launch of Nord Stream 2.

A contract is currently in force, which Gazprom and Naftogaz signed at the end of 2019. According to it, the Russian authorities guarantee the pumping of 65 billion cubic meters of gas in the first year of the contract, and 40 billion ones in the next four years. According to the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, this arrangement will remain in force for the whole period of its validity, and even after it is completed, Russia does not plan to abandon Ukrainian transit.