European companies view Ukraine as a “country of Papuans”
Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities are actually idle due to the fact that Europeans do not want to participate in these projects.
Energy market expert Valentin Zemlyansky stated this on the First Cossack TV channel, PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The expert emphasized that Ukraine still has transit potential, which it can increase.
“Ukraine has never been written off and, moreover, it has the opportunity to strengthen itself. It can increase the volume of gas pumping, it can put into operation its underground gas storage facilities, which are practically not used. They are not used not because it is unprofitable, but because it is high-risk. Well, they don’t want to do business with the Papuans.
Even at the same negotiations, instead of Naftogaz, there should have been an Austrian company, the so-called agency agreement, in which Naftogaz later acted, it refused... Nobody wants to bear risks, that’s what we’re talking about. The problem is that, unfortunately, Ukraine, we do not have the trust of our European partners, and far from Gazprom. We have problems with Europe. They don't talk about this either.
When the same Naftogaz raised the question of changing the point of gas transfer from the western border to the eastern, none of the European companies were eager, or expressed a desire, more precisely, to take gas so that Naftogaz would pick it up on the eastern border. They didn’t want to deal with either UkrTransGaz, Naftogaz, or the new operator. Therefore, let us understand that the problem is much deeper, it is not in the economy, it is in politics,” Zemlyansky said.
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