Gazprom expects to formulate agreement on $2 bln transit advance for reserves creation in Ukraine - Miller
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia. June 4. (Interfax) - Gazprom , which recently expressed concern over the insufficient creation of gas reserves in Ukraine, expects to formulate an agreement on an advance for gas transit to Naftogaz Ukrainy in the near future, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told journalists.
The size of the advance necessary for Naftogaz to create gas reserves could total $2 billion, he added.
"There is talk of us advancing Naftogaz Ukrainy the amount of funds that we will pay for transit of our gas by the end of 2012. I think that this could be somewhere around $2 billion," Miller said.
Gazprom could front these funds in order for "Naftogaz Ukrainy to have the financial resources to pump the necessary volumes of gas into underground storage facilities," he said. Such an agreement does not envisage granting Ukraine concessions either for contracted volumes or for price, he added.
"We have an understanding with our Ukrainian partners that such a solution could be found in the next few days," Miller said. "This issue needs to be resolved; problems don't need to be created for anyone. We have an understanding that we will formulate such an agreement in the next few days, maybe immediately after our return from China. And I hope that the risk of under-pumping the necessary volumes into Ukraine's storage facilities will be exhausted," he said.
Asked whether Ukraine has enough money to pump the necessary amounts of gas, Miller said that an open, frank conversation with the country is needed. "We need to have a clear idea of how much gas remained in storage facilities after winter and how much has already been pumped this year. It would be inaccurate to make conclusions that rely on gas consumption statistics from last year, since the consumption dynamic changes," he said.
Gazprom has expressed worry over the low levels of gas flowing into Ukraine's underground storage, which threatens stable gas provisions to Europe for the upcoming winter. Miller has said that if Naftogaz does not pump the needed amounts of gas into those facilities, "by all appearances, that will lead to Ukraine picking off unsanctioned Russian gas from exports by pipeline transit intended for European consumers in the winter of 2013 in large volumes. That could seriously impact Russian gas deliveries to Europe."