Ukraine Gov’t kicks off search for partner in GTS joint management

"The Cabinet of Ministers has made a very important decision today. It starts searching for and selecting a partner for the joint management of the country's gas transportation system. This decision stems directly both from the law on the natural gas market and from those consultations that the Prime Minister held with the European Commission," Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Kistion said when presenting the resolution.

Read alsoNaftogaz makes first move to unbundle gas shipmentsHe noted that the ability to provide a maximum workload of the Ukrainian GTS would be the major criterion when choosing a partner.

"The principal criterion in our search for a partner is the maximum workload of the Ukrainian GTS. The government assigns the authority [to look for a partner] to the newly created ad hoc group, which will in the near future report to the government on its results," the official said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Kistion said earlier that the Cabinet of Ministers, in order to preserve the transit of Russian gas via Ukraine after the expiry of the current contract with Russia's Gazprom, was looking for a partner in the management of the Ukrainian GTS among both European and the U.S. gas companies.

Today, Russia is actively seeking to reduce the volume of gas transit via Ukraine. To this end, Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom and its partners are building the Turkish Stream gas pipelines along the bottom of the Black Sea. They also plan to implement the Nord Stream 2 project.

Read alsoEBRD cheers progress as Ukraine replaces Naftogaz board - ReutersAccording to the national oil and gas holding Naftogaz of Ukraine, the construction of the bypass routes can deprive Ukraine of revenues from gas transit, which will amount to $3 billion in 2017. It will also reduce the investment attractiveness of the Ukrainian GTS. To prevent this, Naftogaz offered to create a consortium (with the participation of European partners) to manage the Ukrainian gas transportation system. Moreover, it proposed to reduce the Russian gas transit rate after 2019, when the contract with Gazprom expires.

Read alsoBlast at Austria gas hub results in 23% reduction of gas transit via UkraineAs of December, Naftogaz had already signed a memorandum of cooperation with four European companies, its potential partners, namely the Dutch Gasunie, the French GRTgaz, the Italian Snam and the Slovak Eustream.