REUTERS
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine intends by October 1, 2016 to merge the national and the European gas transportation systems to enhance technical capacities of reverse gas flows from Europe.
According to the government action plan for 2016, interconnector agreements between operators of GTSs in the EU member states and Ukrainian state company Ukrtransgaz are planned to be signed by October 2016.
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry, Economy Ministry and NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine have been tasked with ensuring the implementation of the goal.
Read alsoYatsenyuk: Ukraine-Poland gas interconnector to provide Ukraine with 8 bcm of gas annuallyAs UNIAN reported earlier, in August 2014 the Verkhovna Rada adopted the law on amendments to some laws of Ukraine with respect to reforming the system of management of the unified gas transportation system of Ukraine, which provides for the attraction of European and American investors to the Ukrainian GTS management.
It is noted that a contest for selecting investors will be transparent, requiring the participants to provide information about the ownership structure and all beneficiaries. In addition, the winner company shall be required to report regularly (every five years) to the Ukrainian parliament regarding the scope of work been performed.
Read alsoUkraine, Poland to integrate gas transportation systemsThe law provides for that the GTS and gas storage facilities will remain 100% in the hands of the state. At the same time, the company operator, which will be managed by investors, will stay under state control, with the state owning 51% of the shares and EU or U.S. investors owning another 49%.
Last year, a team of World Bank experts were working in Ukraine, tasked with developing a model to reform the Ukrainian GTS with a view of attracting Western investors to its modernization and management.