Russia’s gas monopoly Gazprom resumed supplies to Ukraine Monday, in a development that will help the country meet its energy needs through the harsh winter months.
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“Ukraine has requested the maximum volume of delivery, at 114 million cubic meters per day, which corresponds to the country’s annual gas imports of 52 billion cubic meters”, Gazprom’s CEO said.
Gazprom halted gas supplies to Ukraine in July after Kiev failed to make prepayments.
The Russian gas supply through Ukraine to Europe will unlikely be disrupted this winter, Vladimir Likhachev, the deputy director of the Energy Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Trend.
The resumption of gas supplies comes as fighting in the east has largely died down, fuelling hopes that the conflict that has claimed more than 8,000 lives can be resolved.
The EIB agreed last week to guarantee up to $520 million of World Bank loans to Ukraine for gas.
He said that 16 billion cubic metres of gas Ukraine now had in its underground storage facilities were not enough to safely get through the winter. As part of these plans, Russian Federation initiated the Turkish Stream project, as well as negotiations on the expansion of the Nord Stream gas pipeline. “This is a huge risk”, he added.
Russia’s energy minister said 10 days ago the discounted price paid by Kiev in the fourth quarter would be roughly $227-$233 per thousand cubic meters.
He argued that all Ukrainian activities related to the gas deliveries are determined by political motives and show that Ukraine is an unreliable partner.
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Ukraine´s state gas pipeline operator Ukrtransgas declined to instantly touch upon Monday however the agency stated final week that Kiev was prepared to buy two billion cubic meters of pure gas from Russian Federation in October.
