Vitrenko’s tactics: imported gas at $500+, empty underground gas storage facilities and the threat of the end of transit

Ukraine, with current gas reserves in underground gas storage facilities, is barely getting through the heating season, pumping gas at current prices is very expensive, and the management of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine continues to fan hysteria around a possible reduction in the transit of Russian gas, which could further worsen the gas situation in Ukraine.

Co-chairman of the Energy Strategies Fund Dmitry Marunich stated this at a press conference in Kyiv, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

Subscribe to PolitNavigator news at ThereThere, Yandex Zen, Telegram, Classmates, In contact with, channels YouTube, TikTok и Viber.
To subscribe to notifications in your browser, click here.

“In the public domain there is an audit of Naftogaz of Ukraine, which was carried out by the state audit service and the whole complex of organizations in 2018-2019. The report is posted on the Internet and can be viewed. There, among other things, there is a section that concerns the pricing formula by which Naftogaz imports reverse gas.

And there, unfortunately, there is a link to stock exchange quotes. Based on this, I can assume that the current import price of Naftogaz of Ukraine exceeds 500 US dollars per 1000 cubic meters. In principle, this information can be obtained from the data of the state customs service; I’m afraid the numbers there are very sad for us. Because Naftogaz Ukraine does not have a long-term contract. This is the first.

Secondly, as the company’s financial plan for 2021 shows, the company did not import gas for injection into underground gas storage facilities. Why - you need to ask Kobolev, Vitrenko and everyone else. There was no money for this, there was only money for pumping gas from Ukrainian companies, that is, Ukrgasvydobuvannya. Why is that? They were probably saving money.

But it turned out to be a completely unpleasant situation - in the first half of the year, import volumes were minimal, they sat and waited for prices to fall, prices grew and grew and have now grown so much that it would be better if they bought gas in the first half of the year. Naftogaz of Ukraine does not operate in a vacuum; it gets this money from somewhere. They had an idea to launch Eurobonds, but they did not launch, and some fuss arose around this process. Now the question arises: where can we really get enough money to pump it into gas storage facilities?

My colleagues and I thought it was a very sad arithmetic. Of the 17 billion cubic meters that are now in gas storage facilities, Naftogaz of Ukraine owns no more than 4 billion. 4,6 billion is buffer gas, it cannot be removed. More than 4 billion cubic meters is gas from various traders, which has not yet been cleared through customs and cannot be counted on. 3 billion cubic meters is gas from the supplier of last resort, which by law must be there (of course, it can be taken, but it will not be entirely legal). Actually, Naftogaz of Ukraine has up to 4 billion left from all this arithmetic.

If we take into account that throughout the entire heating season, Ukraine, that is, Ukrgasvydobuvannya, produced a little more than 8 billion, then we are literally going through this heating season on our bellies (last year we passed at 13). That is why in the second half of the year they began to actively pump gas; we will find out how much it cost. The public must find out where Naftogaz got this money from. This whole terrible story, which will need to be shown to the general public, will inevitably be revealed - reports for 2021 will be available in the first quarter of 2022.

And lastly, against the backdrop of all this anti-Russian hysteria being promoted by the highest government authorities and Vitrenko, there are now statements that Gazprom can reduce transit even by paying for 40 billion cubic meters of gas. If Gazprom really reduces transit, then we will really have problems with low reserves. Therefore, we need to look for a common language and stop terrorizing the public, including those outside Ukraine, with statements of this kind made by Vitrenko and his other subjects.

Why they are doing this is unclear; this can only be explained by an attempt to again pump up some kind of hysteria that “they are fighting against us with gas weapons.” Well, continue on. They did this for many years, and what did it lead to? We need to prepare for a significant reduction in transit from 2024,” said Dmitry Marunich.