REUTERS
Ukraine is gradually moving toward becoming a regional Eastern European gas hub, the official says.
CEO of LLC Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU) Serhiy Makogon says Ukraine was a net exporter of natural gas on December 1, 2020, as the country's exports prevailed over imports on the first day of the month.
"Here's something incredible. Today, Ukraine was a net exporter of gas (I don't consider transit). Some 4.57 million cubic meters [mcm] of gas was imported (3.28 mcm from Hungary and 1.29 mcm – from Slovakia). At the same time, 5.4 mcm was exported (3.8 mcm to Hungary and 1.6 mcm to Poland)," he wrote on Facebook on December 1.
Different types of gas were shipped abroad for different purposes and to different owners, the said.
"There are imports, and imports to bonded warehouses, as well as exports from bonded warehouses. Traders monitor the dynamics on adjacent markets and transport gas to the areas where gas is more expensive for the time being. This is a normal market behavior that allows setting a fair market price for gas not only in Ukraine, but also in neighboring countries. We're gradually moving toward creating a regional Eastern European gas hub," he added.
Background
On January 1, 2020, the functions of the operator of the country's trunk gas pipelines were transferred from state-owned Ukrtransgaz to LLC Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine, which is subject to state-owned Magistralni Gazoprovody Ukrainy managed by Ukraine's Finance Ministry.
For the three quarters of 2020, GTSOU transported 39.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas, which was 40% down from 65.40 bcm reported year-over-year.
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Gas transit in the southern direction totaled 2.6 bcm (76% down), including 0.54 bcm to Romania and 2 bcm to Moldova.
The decrease in transit along the southern route of Ukraine's GTS was due to the launch in January 2020 of the TurkStream gas pipeline, which transports gas from Russia to Turkey and then on to the Balkans.