Naftogaz CEO, NATO officials talk Ukraine's energy security

Head of the Board of the National Joint-Stock Company Naftogaz of Ukraine, Andriy Kobolyev, discussed energy security of Ukraine with NATO officials in Brussels, the company press service reported Monday.

"Today, a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Commission was held at the level of deputy permanent representatives in the new NATO Headquarters [in Brussels]," the report says.

The meeting was also attended by Naftogaz of Ukraine, Andriy Kobolyev, the press service wrote.

"Andriy Kobolyev's report on the decisions of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce and on the implementation of the Nord Stream-2 project sparked a lively discussion during the meeting. The Allies were unanimous in that the energy security of Ukraine is a component of the energy security of the whole region," the report says.

Read alsoGermany seeks to strengthen position in Europe due to Nord Stream 2 – diplomatUNIAN memo. Earlier, the government of Ukraine and Naftogaz management have repeatedly drawn attention of the European Commission, the U.S. Government, and authorities in Germany and other countries to the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline that is a factor that poses an immense threat to the energy security of Ukraine and the whole Europe.

The Nord Stream 2 project envisages the construction of two gas pipeline lines with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year, The lines are to be laid down from the Russian coast to Germany along the Baltic Sea bottom. The new pipeline is planned to be built next to the already existing Nord Stream 1. The construction of the gas pipeline is to have been completed by the end of 2019. The line will be 1,220 km long.

Read alsoUkrainian gas transit route "strategic" to EU's security: energy chiefAccording to earlier estimates by Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev, Nord Stream 2 does not contribute to diversification of gas supplies to the European Union and does not provide it with access to new energy sources. In addition, Kobolev noted that the pipeline could deprive Ukraine of its transit revenues.

Germany and Finland have already approved the construction of the 1,200-km pipeline. From the end of 2019, it will transport around 55 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas annually from Russia to Germany bypassing Ukraine.

The decisions of Sweden and Denmark on the construction of the nine-billion-euro project are pending.

On April 5, 2018, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine called on the international community to do everything possible to ban the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline bypassing Ukraine.

Meanwhile, construction work has begun on the controversial Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline at Lubmin, Germany's landing point, a Nord Stream2 spokesman said May 3.