The Ministry of Energy of Ukraine told how to counteract the “gas blackmail” of Russia

by time news

The Russian authorities may or may have already made a decision to stop gas transit through Ukraine, but Kiev can take a number of actions to combat the Kremlin’s “gas blackmail”. Olena Zerkal, Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine, wrote about this in her article for Evropeyskaya Pravda.

In her opinion, Ukraine needs first of all to rebuild its GTS, since a number of regions may be left without gas, and to protect consumers from a possible interruption of transit. To do this, you need to pump a sufficient amount of gas into storage facilities for the heating season, and also include Ukraine in the so-called. “Risk group”, the European mechanism for the prevention of crisis situations with the availability of gas.

“If Ukraine is included in this mechanism, blackmailing Ukraine will mean at the same time blackmailing Germany. And for Russia, these are two big differences, ”she said.

In addition, according to the official, Kiev must join forces with international partners and prove that Gazprom continues to “abuse its monopoly on gas supplies to the EU via pipelines.”

“And here it is important to stop hoping that someone can save us, and concentrate on a simple task: to make Nord Stream 2 meet all the requirements of the EU’s third energy package,” Zerkal added.

Earlier, Ukraine announced that it was preparing a legal position for consultations with the United States and Germany on guarantees and compensation to Kiev after the launch of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he supports the early start of regular trilateral consultations on the preservation of the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine after the launch of the gas pipeline.

In August, Gazprom did not book additional transit capacity through Ukraine for the IV quarter, Interfax reported, citing the results of the auction on the GSA Platform booking platform. Ukraine exhibited a capacity of 9.8 million cubic meters. m per day.

At the end of December 2019, Ukraine, Russia and the European Union signed a new transit gas contract for five years with the possibility of extension until 2034. According to the document, the minimum guaranteed gas pumping will amount to 65 billion cubic meters. m in the first year, 40 billion cubic meters each. m – in the next four years. The transit arrangement assumes a “pump or pay” principle, when the transit fee is charged in the amount of the booked capacity, even if the actual pumping turns out to be less.

.

You may also like

Leave a Comment