US Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor advocates negotiations between the Cabinet of Ministers and the Vanco Prykerchenska company (Virgin Islands) for settling the conflict over exploration of the Prykerchenskyi block of the Black Sea shelf.
He said this in his interview with Radio Svoboda.
"If there are problems between the parties, they can sit down at the negotiating table and discuss them," Taylor said.
Taylor stressed that he sees no manifestation of double standards in the situation, which emerged between company and Ukrainian government, and considers the agreement to be transparent.
"The choice of Mr. Yekhanurov's government was sudden, but a competition was transparent," the Ambassador thinks.
According to Taylor, questions regarding possible technical violations when the license had been issued and procedural questions arose.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Vanco Prykerchenska company (Virgin Islands) has applied to the arbitral tribunal of the Arbitration Institute of the Chamber of Commerce of Stockholm (Sweden) with a request to check the legitimacy of its being denied the development of the Prykerchenska block of the Black Sea shelf.
The Cabinet of Ministers has authorized Yevhen Korniichuk, first deputy head of the Justice Minister, to enter into negotiations with the Vanco Prykerchenska Ltd company (Virgin Islands) to settle the conflict over exploration of the Prykerchenskyi block of the Black Sea shelf.
On June 18, President Viktor Yuschenko with his decree No.566/2008 suspended Cabinet of Ministers' Resolution No. 740 of May 21 on the government's withdrawal from the product sharing agreement with Vanco International.
The Cabinet of Ministers canceled on May 21 its resolution No. 828 of October 3, 2007 that approved conclusion of the agreement with Vanco International on sharing product from the Kerch shelf.
The Cabinet of Ministers declared Vanco International, a subsidiary of Vanco Energy Company (United States), as the winner of the competition for the right to develop oil and gas deposits on the shelf in April 2006.
The Cabinet of Ministers and Vanco International signed the product sharing agreement on October 19, 2007.
The Environmental Protection Ministry canceled Vanco Prykerchenska's license to develop oil and gas deposits at the Black Sea shelf's Prykerchenskyi block on April 25.
In response, Vanco Prykerchenska established an arbitration procedure against Ukraine.
