Gazprom is no longer interested in transit through Ukraine - an alternative route is on the way
The Russian Gazprom refuses to reserve additional Ukrainian capacities for the transit of “blue fuel” to Europe.
This was reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent , Kommersant reports.
“Despite high gas prices in Europe and low levels of reserves in storage, Gazprom does not show interest in increasing pumping through Ukraine. According to the official position, the monopoly “maintains a conservative scenario” for gas supplies to Europe in 2021 at the level of 183 billion cubic meters per year. In fact, this is the maximum volume that Gazprom can pump without additional reservation of Ukrainian capacities. Thus, the growth of exports to Europe is directly related to the timing of the commissioning of Nord Stream 2,” the article notes.
At the same time, the head of Gazprom Export, Elena Burmistrova, did not comment yesterday on whether Russia would book additional capacity for transit through Ukraine at the competition on May 25. So far this year, the company has refused to make significant additional bookings even though gas prices in Europe topped $300 per 1000 cubic meters in May.
“Against this background, Gazprom maintains a conservative forecast for pipeline gas supplies to Europe in 2021 at the level of 175–183 billion cubic meters at a price of $200–209 per 1 thousand cubic meters,” the newspaper points out.
However, Burmistrova does not rule out increasing volumes.
“Given Gazprom’s reluctance to book additional Ukrainian capacity, the only opportunity to increase supplies appears to be the launch of Nord Stream 2,” the publication adds.
The newspaper emphasizes that if the new gas pipeline is launched by October at at least half capacity, it could increase Gazprom's exports in 2021 by about 8 billion cubic meters.
Gazprom is no longer interested in transit through Ukraine – an alternative route is on the way.