Kiev, March 17 - Neftegaz.RU. Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine for the 1st time has transited gas between the 2 European countries, Ukrainian UNIAN reported. A German energy trader ordered transmission of natural gas through Ukraine along the route Hungary - Slovakia.
At the same time, gas metering for this operation is carried out as under a transit agreement with Gazprom, in energy units, according to the company's press service. "After signing a new transit agreement with Gazprom and new inter-operator agreements with operators of the GTS of neighboring European countries, the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine is actively introducing new transmission services for Ukrainian and foreign customers," reads the report.
The new short-haul transit service allows transport service customers to transmit gas between European countries (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and, in the future, Romania) through Ukraine. The start of the provision of this service will enable intensification of gas trade between the countries of Eastern Europe and will allow additional loading of the Ukrainian GTS capacities, which are no longer fully used after the construction of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.
The company said the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine was working on the creation of virtual points, which will simplify the work of both related operators and traders at points of interstate connectors. Consultations on the creation of a single virtual point on the Ukrainian-Polish border are underway.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the transit of gas through the Ukrainian gas transmission system increased by 3.2% to 89.58 billion cu m in 2019. On January 1, 2020, the functions of the country's operator of trunk gas pipelines were transferred from the state-owned Ukrtransgaz to Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine, which was transferred to Magistralni Gazoprovody Ukrainy's management subordinated to Ukraine's Finance Ministry.
On December 30, 2019, Ukraine and Russia signed a new gas transit contract for a period of 5 years, obliging Gazprom to pump a minimum of 65 bcm of gas via Ukraine in the 1st year and 40 bcm in the next 4 years. On December 31, Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev said Ukraine over the next 5 years would make at least $7.2 billion on Russian gas transit.
