Top Stories
Exclusive-Ukraine will not reopen gas route until it controls pipeline system
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
By Pavel Polityuk
KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine will not reopen the Sokhranovka gas transit route from Russia to Europe until Kyiv obtains full control over its pipeline system, the head of operator GTSOU told Reuters on Thursday.
The company on Tuesday declared force majeure citing gas theft by Russia-backed separatists and halted flows via Sokhranovka, which account for almost a third of the gas Russia sends across Ukraine to Europe.
The pipeline runs through Ukraine’s Luhansk region, part of which has been under the control of Russia-backed separatists since 2014.
“We won’t open. Until full control over the asset,” GTSOU boss Sergiy Makogon said in written comments.
He said Russian state gas producer Gazprom had been unaware that the separatists had started stealing gas transiting Ukraine.
“I don’t think that Gazprom was aware that the (separatists) had started stealing transit gas from us.”
Makogon said Gazprom could still deliver all its Europe-bound volumes by using the Sudzha transit route, which remains open.
Gazprom was not immediately available for comment.
The company has said it is not technologically possible to reroute all its supply via Sudzha, an assertion that Kyiv has said is untrue.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Mark Potter)
A gas transit route is a pipeline system through which natural gas is transported from one region to another, often across multiple countries.
Gazprom is a state-owned gas company in Russia, known for being one of the largest producers and suppliers of natural gas in the world.
A pipeline system is a network of pipes used to transport liquids or gases from one location to another, typically over long distances.
Explore more articles in the Top Stories category
