Without Russian gas transit: will Ukraine survive the extremely difficult winter?
10 September 2024 16:50
ANALYSIS
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that this winter, like the last one, Ukraine plans to get through with domestically produced gas, without assistance from partners. And from 2025, Ukraine may stop transiting gas from Russia to Europe altogether. "Komersant Ukrainian" figured out whether this will affect Ukraine and what will determine stability in the gas sector.
In the first seven months of 2024, Naftogaz Group produced 8.6 billion cubic metres of gas, up 7% year-on-year.
“We also plan to go through this winter with our own gas, which is important. We managed to get through the last one on our own, without any help from our partners, without buying additional gas from outside”
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal
As he told in an exclusive comment energy expert Serhiy Dyachenko said in an exclusive interview, this is not the first winter with our own gas. But in the coming years, the situation may change
“It depends on how many territories we return. Today, there is enough gas for those territories that are supplied with gas.”
Sergiy Dyachenko
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Lack of Russian gas transit is not a problem
At the same time, Ukraine does not intend to extend the transit agreement with Russia. The gas contract expires at the end of 2024. However, according to Serhiy Dyachenko, this does not pose a threat to Ukraine. In this case, he says, we have a well-established scheme.
“We have mostly winter storage facilities in western Ukraine. In this case, we cannot supply gas from them in winter. We use gas from the transit pipe in the east and compensate for it with gas from storage facilities in the west. If there is no transit purely technically, then the system is deployed from west to east, and we can easily supply gas.”
Sergiy Dyachenko
The Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal noted that energy sustainability remains one of the biggest challenges. And this winter will be no less difficult and perhaps the most difficult. The official assured: “Ukraine is constantly working with partners, bringing equipment from around the world, and restoring those capacities that can be restored.
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Author: Anastasia Fedor
