Page 60 - UKRRptFeb19

9.0 Industry & Sectors 9.1 Sector news
9.1.1 Oil & gas sector news
Ukraine cut imports of gas for domestic consumption by one quarter in 2018, to 3.5bn cubic meters, the Interfax-Ukraine calculates, drawing on figures from Ukrtransgaz. For the last three years, Ukraine has only bought gas from its western neighbors – Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. Much of this gas originates in Russia. Higher gas prices, investment in conservation, and shifts to alternatives energy sources have cut gas imports In January, heating rates went up by 4-24%, according to rates set by the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Utilities.
The EU is proposing Russia guarantee 60bcm of gas transits from Russia to the EU via the Ukraine after the current contract expires at the end of this year, as negotiation over a new transit deal open. Trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the European Union (EU) on gas transit from Russia to the EU via Ukraine started on January 22 and immediately stalled . No deal is likely this year.
Three quarters (73%) of Germans surveyed by Forsa back building the pipeline under the Baltic . Two third rejected as false President Trump’s assertion that the pipeline will render Germany dependent on Moscow. And 77% told pollsters from the sociological centre that the Trump administration is using the sanctions threat to blackmail Germany.
Ukraine-Russia gas contracts signed in 2009 have caused irrevocable loss of $32bn for Kyiv , CEO of the country's natural gas monopoly Naftogaz Andriy Kobolev believes. According to him, Ukraine has lost $32bn "with no hope of a return" in form of "upcharges, fines and other elements". Kobolev added that the damage could have been even greater, but thanks to the recent victory in the Stockholm arbitration , it was possible to save $94.7bn or UAH177,000 per family. Earlier, the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce ordered Gazprom to pay $4.63bn to Naftogaz for the failure to meet gas transit obligations. However, since the court previously ordered Naftogaz to pay Gazprom for gas supply arrears in January, Gazprom's net payment after two arbitration decisions will be $2.56bn . Ukraine has not bought any natural gas from Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom for three years, counting from November 26, 2015. Instead, Kyiv imported gas from Russian clients in Europe, such as Slovakia and Poland, by reverse flows and with a mark-up in price. In 2017, Ukraine increased imports of gas by 26.8%, or 2.972bn cubic metres (cm), to 14.05bn cm. Imports from Slovakia amounted to 9.91bn cm, from Hungary 2.835bn cm, and from Poland 1.305bn cm.
Representatives of Russia’s state-owned gas giant Gazprom skipped a meeting to discuss gas transit through Ukraine in 2020 , after the current contract expires. They did not sign up for trilateral technical consultations scheduled for January 15 to discuss a future deal on Russian natural gas transit though Ukraine, the Ukrainian side reported the same day.
The current contract specifying conditions for gas transit from Russian fields to
60 UKRAINE Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com