“Ukrainian gas storage facilities are only one-third full” – Gennadiy Ryabtsev
19 December 2024 15:35
EXCLUSIVE
Ukraine’s underground gas storage facilities (UGS) are currently only one-third full. Energy expert Gennadiy Ryabtsev said this in an exclusive commentary to Komersant ukrainskyi.
The expert notes that Ukraine is not utilizing its own capacities to the maximum.
“Currently, our storage facilities are one-third full. Why? Because Europeans don’t need gas? No, they don’t. European gas storage facilities were 92% full at the beginning of the heating season. This means that Europeans needed storage capacities, but Ukrainian ones are half-empty,” he says,
– he says.
At the same time, according to the expert, this situation is not related to military risks.
“Military risks are insured. This is not a problem. Business knows how to work in conditions of instability in a particular country,”
– Mr. Ryabtsev emphasized.
The main reason for Ukraine’s failure to utilize its potential is the lack of a single market with Europe.
“We don’t have a single gas market with Europe, despite all the stories told by Naftogaz representatives. Ukraine, or rather our operator, is not even a member of ENTSOG – the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas,”
– emphasized Gennadiy Ryabtsev.
Without solving this problem, Ukrainian gas storage facilities will continue to remain half-empty, and talks about a joint gas hub with Poland will remain just that, the expert believes.
