Only a miracle will save Ukraine in winter
Kyiv, September 17 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Ryabov) – Ukrainian officials showed amazing carelessness: realizing the impossibility of reaching an agreement with Gazprom, they did not purchase the necessary volumes of fuel on the European spot market last summer, while the price was not yet too high.
The newspaper “Business Capital” writes about this.
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The publication explains that it is most profitable to purchase gas on European exchanges immediately after the end of the heating season, when the price is minimal. The head of Naftogaz, Yevgeny Bakulin, actually voiced such plans in March, but things did not go beyond words.
“In June-July, the price on the European spot fell below $300 per thousand cubic meters, but Ukraine did not even think about pumping blue fuel in available volumes,” the publication says.
“Such unprofessionalism could turn into a disaster for the country. In the fall, gas on the European spot began to rise in price, trading volumes began to decline, and only a little more than 15 billion cubic meters were pumped into underground gas storage facilities in Ukraine. At the same time, the Kremlin has already begun to stop gas supplies to Europe, putting an end to our plans for its reversal. Last week companies from Poland, Germany and Slovakia announced reductions in Russian fuel supplies below the level stipulated in contracts,” the newspaper recalls.
“Filling underground storage facilities to the minimum acceptable level of 17 billion cubic meters was a big question even before the start of the heating season. Now that Gazprom has demonstrated its ability to screw on a valve on a gas pipe, it has become obvious that only a miracle will help Ukraine pump in the missing 2 billion cubic meters,” the publication summarizes.
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