REUTERS
The branch will provide natural gas storage services and ensure the efficient and uninterrupted operation of 12 underground storage facilities.
The state-owned operator of Ukraine's gas transportation system, Ukrtransgaz, has created its new branch, the Operator of Ukrainian Gas Storage Facilities, as part of unbundling (splitting of the company into constituent businesses).
"Creating the Operator of Ukrainian Gas Storage Facilities is a consistent step towards the successful completion of the unbundling process, as a result of which [another subsidiary of Ukrtransgaz] the Operator of the Ukrainian GTS [gas transmission system] will be finally singled out from Ukrtransgaz after the current transit contract with [Russia's gas giant OAO] Gazprom expires. Today, the gas storage facilities are coordinated by the trunk gas pipelines departments of PJSC Kyivtransgaz, Lvivtransgaz, Prykarpattyatransgaz and Kharkivtransgaz, which are Ukrtransgaz's branches that are primarily responsible for gas transportation. The newly created Operator of Ukrainian Gas Storage Facilities will become a single control center of Ukraine's underground storage facilities and ensure its autonomous operation," Acting President of Ukrtransgaz Andriy Khomenko said as reported by the company's press service on November 2.
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The branch will provide natural gas storage services and ensure the efficient and uninterrupted operation of 12 underground storage facilities (USF) with a total storage capacity of 31 billion cubic meters. The company will consolidate all assets, processes and employees that are needed to provide the said services.
As reported, the branch will begin its work on January 1, 2019. At the same time, it will continue to function as Ukrtransgaz's structural unit, without separation into a legal entity.
Preparatory work is under way to ensure legal and organizational support of the branch, redistribute production and business processes, carry out the stocktaking of existing assets, and transfer over 1,700 USF workers to the new branch.
As of November 2, the company was operating 11 USFs. There is also one USF located on temporarily uncontrolled territory in Luhansk region.
As UNIAN reported earlier, in early October of 2018, CEO of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine Andriy Kobolyev said that the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, in the first half of 2019 would consider creating a consortium with potential international partners for managing the Ukrainian gas transmission system (GTS).
In February 2018, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko announced that more than a dozen international companies had shown interest in the management of Ukraine's GTS.
UNIAN memo. In early November 2016, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a decision to create a new operator of Ukraine's GTS, namely PJSC Mahistralni Gazoprovody Ukrainy (Trunk Gas Pipelines). At the same time, Naftogaz management created a new subsidiary, the Operator of the Ukrainian GTS, within the structure of Ukrtransgaz.
Naftogaz believes that the establishment of a new legal entity and the involvement of a European partner in its management is necessary for European companies to be able to buy gas on the eastern border of Ukraine and transfer it to the European market, preserving transit volumes after the current contract with Gazprom expires.
UNIAN memo. Ukrtransgaz operates 12 underground gas storages (USFs) with a total storage capacity of about 31 bcm. The USFs are an integral part of Ukraine's gas supply system and gas transit through its territory. The company is also the operator of the main gas pipelines, through which natural gas is exported from the Russian Federation to the EU countries. Ukrtransgaz is wholly owned by NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine.