29 Nov 2018 13:03

Ukraine prepared to provide gas transit services to Gazprom on short-term basis from 2020

KYIV. Nov 29 (Interfax) - Russia's Gazprom could decide not to sign a long-term contract for gas transit via Ukraine's gas transmission system (GTS), instead reserving capacity for a specific time period, Naftogaz Ukrainy CEO Andriy Kobolev said.

"Gazprom, in general, could decide not to sign a contract with Ukraine. At the end of 2019, Gazprom could come to the operator of the GTS, which is to be prepared for unbundling with Naftogaz Group, and simply order the services, as other shippers do now," he said on Channel 5 TV late on Wednesday.

"This will mean that Gazprom will pay the same tariff paid by the rest [of the shippers] on general terms. It could use this mechanism to reserve a gas transit volume, for example, for 2020, or six months, or one month" he said.

Kobolev reiterated that he thought Gazprom was carrying out a political order to drag out talks on a new transit contract with Naftogaz until after Ukraine's presidential election.

As reported, Ukraine's GTS has capacity to accept 288 billion cubic meters (bcm) and supply 178.5 bcm, of which 142.5 bcm to European countries and 3.5 bcm to Moldova.