Page 6 - FSUOGM Week 45 2019

FSUOGM PIPELINES & TRANSPORT FSUOGM
Ukrainian president issues decree on unbundling Naftogaz
UKRAINE
The decree is largely symbolic as the government already approved a plan for unbundling Naftogaz’s pipelines.
UKRAINIAN President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has signed a decree to unbundle national gas company Naftogaz’s gas pipelines by the end of 2019. The decree, announced by Zelenskiy’s media office on November 9, also calls for the establishment of an independent operator for these pipelines.
However, the move appears to be mainly symbolic, as Ukraine’s government approved in a new resolution on the unbundling of Nafto- gaz back in September. Zelenskiy’s decree adds nothing new, although it reaffirms the leader’s commitment to complete the reforms on time.
“The new model enables us to create the inde- pendent TSO fully compliant with European law. I would like to thank the Energy Commu- nity Secretariat, the Ukrainian government and the Regulator for fruitful cooperation, as well as for design and approval of the new model within very tight time limits,” Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev said at the time.
At the previous stage of the unbundling, state- owned Ukrtransgaz established Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU), which forms a basis for the new independent TSO.
Ukrtransgaz reassigned nearly 10 thousand employees involved in gas transmission and ensured that all necessary business processes and
IT-systems are in place. The unbundling plan also stipulates how and when the assets involved in gas transmission via trunk pipelines should be transferred.
The new resolution of the government stip- ulates for the sale of GTSOU by Ukrtransgazto Mahistralni Gazoprovody Ukrainy (MGU), a state-owned company, which is independent from Naftogaz group.
Along with the handover of GTSOU own- ership to MGU, the government will transfer the gas transmission system under operational control of the new TSO. The government has transferred control over MGU to the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance.
The model will ensure the new TSO’s inde- pendence from Naftogaz and full separation of gas transmission operations from gas produc- tion and supply, which is the ultimate purpose of the unbundling.
The implementation of the approved model will proceed with the adoption of a special law and a number of other practical steps set out in the agreed action plan. Completing the TSO unbundling, Ukraine will make another step in the development of its gas market and fulfil its obligations under the Association Agreement withtheEU.™
Moldova close to Russian gas deal
MOLDOVA
The unanswered question is how the supplies will be delivered.
MOLDOVA’S Moldovagaz has agreed in princi- ple with Russia’s Gazprom on renewing its supply contract for Russian gas for another three years.
The company, which is itself majority-owned by Gazprom, said in a statement on Novem- ber 11 that the pair had reached an agreement and were “ready to sign, as soon as possible,” its “annexes.” Their existing supply deal runs out at the end of this year, although Moldovagaz said its extension until December 2022 would not be signed until transportation arrangements were finalised.
According to Moldovagaz, the contract stip- ulates terms for supplies to Moldova via three routes: directly from Russia through Ukraine, via EU countries and then Ukraine and finally, through Romania.
The first two options will only be possible if Russia agrees new terms with Ukraine for gas transit next year, after their current deal expires. Kyiv and Moscow have held several rounds of EU-brokered talks on reaching a new agreement without any breakthroughs, with Russian officials insisting that Ukraine must first drop its legal
claims relating to their previous transit contract. The third option would involve reversing the flow of the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline, currently used by Gazprom to pump gas south-west- wards through Ukraine to Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. Gas could then be pumped via Turkey from Gazprom’s Turk- Stream project, to start up by the end of this year. Reversing the flow would require infrastructure investments, but once this work is done, Mol- dovagaz said it would be able to receive 12.4mn cubic metres per day (4.526bn cubic metres per
year) of Russian gas.
Moldova and Russia have been discussing
a new gas deal for much of the past year, with the two sides apparently struggling to agree on a gas price. Moldova had been seeking a price cut of 30% from its current tariff of $240 per 1,000 cubic metres. While Moldovan President Igor Dodon claimed in September that some form of discount had been secured, its size was not disclosed.
Moldovagaz did not comment on pricing details in its statement. ™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 45 13•November•2019