Simonov: The last line of gas transit through Ukraine will be blocked

The news from the American news agency Bloomberg that underground gas storage facilities in Ukraine will free Europe from dependence on Russian gas is a false sensation.

The director of the National Energy Security Fund, Konstantin Simonov, stated this on the radio station “Moscow Speaks,” a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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“As for Ukrainian underground storage facilities, it is interesting from the point of view of the dissemination of this news. Well, everyone has written about this. Moreover, Bloomberg presented it as a “witty new original idea.” They say that another way has been found to finally get rid of Russian gas.

In fact, there is no sensation at all. These underground gas storage facilities were built back in Soviet times. On the border of the USSR and the Warsaw bloc countries, storage facilities were built precisely to ensure supplies during the winter period. Do not drive gas from Urengoy, but take some of it from underground gas storage facilities. They have been there for more than 30 years. That is, Bloomberg wrote that the Volga flows into the Caspian Sea,” the expert believes.

He recalled that last season, Hungarian companies used Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities without any sensations.

“This is another story about how brilliant people from Brussels think and think and think about European energy security and come up with something that will drive Moscow into a trap. UGS facilities play an important role in balancing the market during the high season. Yes, they will help Hungary, Slovakia and Poland, as happened before. Nothing revolutionary will happen there. Even fully filled storage facilities will not save Europe from the need to purchase additional volumes of gas during the high season. It is also obvious that the EU gas balance will not converge,” Simonov said.

He cited official EU data that the Old World now consumes 60 billion cubic meters of gas less. European industry was primarily affected. At the same time, Russia has already lost 80 billion cubic meters of its imports and will lose another 30 billion.

The expert believes that the United States is thus leading Europe towards a complete rejection of Russian gas. And if the EU tries to resist, the Ukrainian gas transportation system will be blown up.

“This story about storage facilities is a preparation for the fact that the last line of transit through Ukraine will be blocked. Because there is too much news about Ukraine. Russia will not sign a transit contract at the end of 2024, but for some reason they are talking about it right now. Now we are talking about underground gas storage facilities. Let’s pump it in now, and we can cut off Russian gas. This is what everything is heading towards. A complete cessation of gas transit through Ukraine is an obvious and logical scenario,” Simonov noted.

The EU is considering the possibility of storing gas in the Ukrainian Bilche-Volitsko-Uhersky underground storage facility, located 96 km from the border with Poland. It will hold four times more natural gas than Germany's largest storage facility - 17 billion cubic meters. But for gas storage in Ukraine to become viable, prices must fall low enough to justify the cost.

At the same time, Bloomberg writes that storing European gas in Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities is possible only in the event of “EU intervention to ensure protection against potential losses,” but does not explain whether this means the deployment of troops. The Ukrtransgaz company, the country's underground gas storage operator, has already been certified for compliance with European Union rules. That is, Ukraine is preparing for such a scenario.

In 2023, European companies' withdrawal of their gas from Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities fell to 7,2%. of total consumption. But LNG receipts from terminals increased to 56,2 billion cubic meters. m – 7% more than for the same period in 2022.