You're reading: Commissioner: Ukraine’s membership of Energy Community mainly in line with country’s own interests

The systematic adherence to reforms under Energy Community Treaty will have positive improvements for Ukraine's energy security and independence, European Commissioner for Energy Gunther Oettinger has said.

“The EU is convinced that Ukraine’s Energy Community membership is very much in its own interest,” the European commissioner said in an article published in the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia.Ukraine weekly on Saturday (the article is published exclusively by the Kyiv Post in English).

The author of the article said that gas sector reforms in accordance with Energy Community rules will give Ukraine access to the huge EU gas market for Ukraine’s own gas production.

Oettinger said that Energy Community membership means developing supply diversification jointly with the EU and improving Ukraine’s energy independence as well as short and long-term security of supply.

“Ukraine is already making good use of this possibility. Since November 2012 Ukraine has been receiving gas from Germany through Poland (physical reverse flows) at apparently cheaper prices than it is paying for gas directly from Russia. Ukraine is also developing two additional routes of reverse natural gas supplies from Slovakia and Hungary,” the author said.

“In the future, Ukraine should be able to access not only surplus Russian gas in Western Europe but also international markets,” he said.

Oettinger noted that “the EU is willing to explore the possibility of establishing a “gas corridor” to bring more long-term diversification options for Ukraine using, inter alia, existing pipelines in Western Ukraine that link to Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland.”

“To make such projects work, all the countries involved will need to cooperate and make sure that their operational controls for gas flows are in line with their legal commitments under the Energy Community Treaty and/or the internal market rules of the European Union. The Ukrainian gas network and its storage potential (31 bcm compared to 95 bcm for the EU as a whole) could continue to attract investment and be of great value if gas could be supplied to Ukraine from the EU for consumption or storage,” he said.