New Ukraine TSO certified, transmission tariffs agreed

Aura Sabadus

27-Dec-2019

BUCHAREST (ICIS)–On 27 December European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic tweeted that the Gas TSO of Ukraine (GTSOU) was officially unbundled, certified and would operate in line with EU law from 1 January.

The unbundling of transmission operations from state supplier Naftogaz was one of the main conditions set by Russia’s Gazprom during negotiations for a new transit contract with Ukraine.

Under the new deal mediated by Maros Sefcovic, Gazprom will not sign a direct agreement with GTSOU.

Gazprom is expected to sign an agreement with Naftogaz, which will book the capacity for Gazprom and shoulder any risks related to the transit of gas, including that of higher transmission tariffs.

TARIFFS

Ukrainian energy regulator NERC has now published the entry-exit tariffs at the country’s border points for 2020-2024.

The entry tariff on most points will be $4.45 per thousand cubic metres (kscm), lower than the current $6.28/kscm.

The entry tariff at the Sudzha and Sohranovka points on the Russian border were set at $16.01/kscm.

Exit tariffs will differ at each interconnection point with Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

It is not known what will be the actual sum that Gazprom has agreed to pay for transmission.

On 27 December Ukrainian and Russian stakeholders were still finalising the details of the new transit agreement.

The deal is due to be signed by 29 December.

ARBITRATION

Also on 27 December, Naftogaz announced that Gazprom has paid its outstanding $2.9bn debt that was awarded as part of a Stockholm arbitration in February 2018.

Settlement of the debt was one of several issues Naftogaz and Gazprom agreed on as part of a preliminary protocol during week 51.

Gazprom is expected to sign a five-year transit agreement, while Naftogaz will commit to dropping any further legal claims against the Russian supplier.

UKRAINE-MOLDOVA AGREEMENT

In a separate development Moldovan state supplier MOLDOVGAS said transmission arm Moldovatransgaz and GTSOU had signed an interconnection agreement for the delivery of gas at its interconnection points.

The agreement will help Moldova, one of Europe’s most vulnerable consumers, to access gas from January 2020.

The country, which has no storage facilities, has historically depended on Russian gas transited via Ukraine.

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