Why Kyiv Started Talking about Resuming Gas Supplies from Russia

Naftogaz is the national oil and gas company of Ukraine. It is a state-owned company subordinated to the government. The company is involved with extraction, transportation, and refinement of natural gas and crude oil.

Ukrainian energy experts fear the concept that by 2030, Ukraine will be importing Russian gas once again. Commercial director of Naftogaz, Yuri Vitrenko, says there is a risk that "everything will return to normal" and Ukraine will again turn to Moscow for natural gas and oil supplies. And it may well happen, since Ukraine lacks a "sustainable development system," Vitrenko said. In his opinion, the country is developing "very negative trends," indicating a return to the "oligarchic system". Earlier, the commercial director of Naftogaz was unable to rule out the possibility of buying Russian gas in "critical circumstances".

"This is a separate issue, whether we will or not do so, but in a critical case, we can take gas from Russia," Vitrenko said.

Also, in his opinion, Kyiv can provide guarantees on the transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian territory. Recall that a few days earlier, the head of Gazprom Alexei Miller said that by 2019 the company will reduce the volume of gas transit through Ukraine to 19 billion cubic meters per year. For comparison: in 2016, 80 billion cubic meters of gas were supplied to Europe via Ukrainian gas transmission systems. To diversify the transit channels, Gazprom is implementing the projects of the ‘Turkish Stream’ and ‘Nord Stream-2’ pipelines. According to experts, the creation of alternative gas routes is connected not only with the tension in relations between Moscow and Kyiv, but also with the deterioration of the Ukrainian gas transportation system.

Dimitri Dolaberidze