Brussels, 21/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - Günther Oettinger will be in Kiev on 29 September to attend the international conference on the modernisation of the Ukrainian gas transport network, which carries 80% of Russian gas destined for the EU. “Ukraine is an important partner for the EU on many energy policy issues, and is a particularly important gas transit country”, the energy commissioner stressed, on the sidelines of the informal Energy Council held in Wroclaw on 19-20 September, where he also met the Ukrainian energy minister, Yuriy Boyko. “For this reason, together with the EBRD, the Commission is intensely involved in analysing the existing gas pipelines, with the aim of setting the basis for renovating them to ensure a high level of technical security”, Oettinger added. In 2009, the Commission and the Ukrainian government concluded an agreement with the EBRD, the EIB, the World Bank and the IFC on granting an envelope of $2 billion to support the modernisation of the Ukrainian network of gas pipelines - financial support which is conditional on Ukraine carrying out a reform of the regulatory framework of its gas sector. The commissioner also restated the commitment of the European executive to work with Russia and Ukraine to avoid any interruption of supply of Russian gas transported via Ukrainian territory. “We all remember the January 2009 disruption. We want to learn from that”, he concluded.
The president-in-exercise of the Energy Council, Waldemar Pawlak, also confirmed that Ukraine “will continue to be an important gas transit country for the EU, irrespective of the new gas transport corridors which will appear”, with gas pipeline projects piloted by consortiums involving the Russian gas giant Gazprom and European energy groups, such as North Stream in the North, linking Germany to Russia under the Baltic Sea, and South Stream in the South, connecting Russia to Italy and Greece under the Black Sea. Both of these routes bypass Ukraine. The Polish economy minister took pains to reassure Kiev, which is somewhat concerned over the developments in European demand for Russian gas transiting via its territory, pointing out that the forecasts of the International Energy Agency (IEA) confirm the future relevance of the Ukrainian gas transport system, with its annual capacity of 150 billion m3.
The Ukrainian prime minister, Mykola Azarov, caused doubt last weekend over the possible shelving of part of the Ukrainian gas transport system, to cut losses in the absence of any clear confirmation of the volumes of gas to be transported through its territory to Europe. “Ukraine needs guarantees for the volumes of gas to be pumped through its gas transport system both from the EU as consumer and from Russia as supplier”, warned Azarov, at a conference in Yalta on 17 September. Having raised the subject with the commissioner for enlargement and the European neighbourhood policy, Štefan Füle, the head of the Ukrainian government should get further assurances when he visits Kiev at the end of the month. (EH/transl.fl)