REUTERS
The current transit contract between Ukraine and Russia's gas giant Gazprom was signed in 2009 for a period of 10 years.
CEO of National Joint-Stock Company Naftogaz of Ukraine Andriy Kobolyev says the company has worked out a likely scenario for the halt of Russian gas transit via Ukrainian territory from early 2020.
The plan is set to secure the country against Russia's gas blackmail.
"Gazprom's interruption of gas transit through Ukraine in January 2020, when the validity of the current contract expires, is quite a likely scenario. Of course, we are unwilling this, but we must be fully prepared for destructive actions on the part of Russia," he wrote on Facebook on May 14.
Read also"Gas" plans: What will Ukraine do if Russia stops transit
According to Kobolyev, Naftogaz took a number of measures. In particular, the state-owned operator of Ukraine's gas transportation system (GTS), Ukrtransgaz, held a meeting of dispatchers, during which they worked out the details of organizing Ukraine's GTS operation in reverse mode, which will be activated in case of zero transit.
The company has been working to eliminate the weakest links that could jeopardize the operation of the country's GTS, Kobolyev added. Among other things, the Bar compressor station is under reconstruction given its importance for the system's stable operations amid the lack of gas flow.
Moreover, intensive gas injection into the country's underground storage facilities (USFs) is under way. It is planned to accumulate by the next heating season some 20 billion cubic meters of gas. Under such conditions, the GTS will retain stable operations, ensuring the delivery of gas to all consumers.
"Our full readiness to [Russia's] interruption of [gas] transit is the best stopping factor against Gazprom and a fuse against gas blackmail," he added.
UNIAN memo. The current transit contract between Ukraine and Gazprom was signed in 2009 for a period of 10 years. Once it expires (from 2020), the Russian monopoly plans to minimize gas transit through the Ukrainian territory. The next round of the Ukraine-EU-Russia trilateral talks on gas transit after 2019 are scheduled for May 2019.