gazprom.ru
Ukraine should minimize the risks and look for ways to use the existing infrastructure of Ukraine's GTS in a new reality.
Head of Ukrainian GTS Operator Serhiy Makogon says the commissioning of Russia's bypass Turkish Stream gas pipeline means for Ukraine an almost complete halt of gas transit in the southern direction, to Turkey, and poses a much greater risk for Southern European countries and Moldova, receiving gas exclusively via Ukraine.
"With regard to Ukraine, the implementation of this project [TurkStream] will lead to an almost complete halt of transit in the southern direction to Turkey and, accordingly, to a decline in transit revenue. But significantly greater risks arise for the countries of Southern Europe and Moldova, which have historically been receiving gas via Ukraine, while new pipelines are not yet prepared," he wrote on Facebook on August 27.
According to Makogon, Ukraine should minimize its risks, as well as look for ways to use the existing infrastructure of the Ukrainian gas transmission system (GTS) in the new realities.
Read alsoTurkStream Russian "Trojan Horse" to Europe: media
"Unfortunately, the Turkish Stream is becoming an objective reality. There is no economic sense in this project, but no one has been looking for any sense in Gazprom's projects in recent years," he added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on August 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that gas supplies via the Turkish Stream bypassing Ukraine would be launched by the end of the year, as work was going on schedule.
UNIAN memo. TurkStream is the project for a transit-free export gas pipeline stretching across the Black Sea from Russia to Turkey and further to Turkey's border with neighboring countries. The first string of the gas pipeline is intended for Turkish consumers, while the second string will deliver gas to southern and southeastern Europe. Each string will have the throughput capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The construction of the offshore section of Turkish Stream began on May 7, 2017. According to Gazprom, both strings of the pipeline were planned to be put into operation before the end of 2019.