Ukraine, Slovakia have extend 42 mcm guaranteed gas capacity deal until April

MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax) - Gas Transport System Operator of Ukraine, or GTSOU and Slovakia's gas transmission operator Eustream a.s. have agreed to extend their agreement on increased guaranteed capacity of 42 million cubic meters of gas at the Budince interconnection point until March 31, 2023, GTSOU said in a press release.

"We are grateful to our Slovak partner, the GTS operator, for cooperation that is beneficial to all market participants. GTSOU, together with colleagues from Ukrtransgaz, constantly encourages companies to store gas in Ukrainian storage facilities with their own short-haul + customs warehouse services as well as opening new routes for deliveries to Ukraine," said Pavel Stanchak, acting general director of GTSOU.

He said all of these factors were preconditions for creating a gas hub in Ukraine.

The agreement is beneficial not only for nonresidents due to the possibility of storing gas in Ukrainian underground storage facilities, but also for Ukrainian customers, due in particular to the opportunities for imports.

Also, the Energy Community Secretariat forecasts that once the Polish-Slovak interconnector starts operating at full capacity, customers may be interested in the Poland-Slovakia-Ukraine route to supply liquefied natural gas after its regasification, the GTSOU said.

"The supply route could be one of the most attractive in the region, given the relatively short distance for gas transportation from the LNG terminal, or VTT virtual trading point, to Ukraine," the company said, citing a South East European Gas or SEEGAS report.

GTSOU also said that over the past year it had managed to double the guaranteed capacity to import gas from Europe to Ukraine, in particular, to receive an additional 15 million cubic meters from Slovakia from February 4.