REUTERS
A bill on singling out the country's GTS from NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine passed its first reading on October 18.
A new operator of Ukraine's GTS, PJSC Mahistralni Gazoprovody Ukrainy ("Trunk Gas Pipelines"), or the MGU, has been transferred from the Ukrainian Energy and Environmental Protection Ministry to the Finance Ministry under a plan for the unbundling of the country's gas transmission systems (GTS) from NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine.
Read alsoNew operator of Ukraine's GTS to be under Naftogaz's management until January 1
"Step by step, we are implementing the roadmap for the unbundling of the [gas] transport functions. Management of JSC MGU's corporate rights was transferred from the Ministry of Energy and Environmental Protection of Ukraine to the Finance Ministry," MGU CEO Oleksandr Lisnichenko wrote on Facebook on October 24.
According to the CEO, this is an important step in the fulfillment by Ukraine of its external obligations, forming the mandatory basis for signing a new gas transit agreement with Russia.
"The independence of the future operator will be ensured after the transition of the MGU's corporate rights. We are actively working on this now," he said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on October 18, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, passed a bill in the first reading on the unbundling of the gas transmission system from NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine with the Ukrainian GTS remaining wholly owned by the state.
On May 22, Ukraine's government amended a resolution on the unbundling of the gas transmission system in line with the ownership unbundling model and transferred a new operator of Ukraine's GTS, PJSC Mahistralni Gazoprovody Ukrainy under Naftogaz's management until January 1, 2020.
UNIAN memo. In early November 2016, Ukraine's government decided to create a new operator of Ukraine's GTS, PJSC Mahistralni Gazoprovody Ukrainy.