Gazprom abandoned Ukrainian gas storage facilities
Moscow - Kyiv, June 20 (Navigator, Mikhail Stamm) - Gazprom demonstratively refused the services of underground gas storage facilities (UGS) in Ukraine to ensure gas transit, terminating the contract. Moscow shows that its transit obligations do not depend on the filling of Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities, and in the event of interruptions in gas supplies to Europe, it will blame Kyiv.
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On June 17, the day after Ukraine switched to prepayment, Gazprom Export decided to terminate the contract concluded in 2010 with the operator of the Ukrainian gas transportation system (GTS) Ukrtransgaz for transit balancing, Kommersant writes. According to Ukrtransgaz, the contract will cease to be valid on June 23.
The Ukrainian side is extremely concerned about the termination of the contract. “Every winter we used gas from underground storage facilities to compensate for peaks in supplies to Europe; the rupture of the contract does not allow us to use the mechanism,” says a source at Naftogaz. This could lead to a disruption in supplies “and to accusations against Ukraine of failure to comply with transit conditions, which will be used as an argument in favor of the South Stream gas pipeline bypass.”
Naftogaz sees a connection between this step by Gazprom and the explosion on the main transit gas pipeline Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod, believing that Russia is using “various methods” to discredit Ukraine as a transit country.
Gazprom considers these accusations to be groundless and says that breaking the contract will not affect the reliability of supplies in any way. Gazprom Export emphasized that “in the coming winter it will use the capacity of European underground gas storage facilities to compensate for individual peaks in demand, and does not rely on the capabilities of the Ukrainian gas transportation system in this matter.”
Now they have 14 billion cubic meters. m of gas, it is believed that about 18-20 billion cubic meters are needed to get through the cold winter. m. Gazprom emphasizes that without them, Ukraine will not be able to cover the high consumption in the east of the country in winter.
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