POLAND - Ukraine's Ukrtransgaz and Poland's GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. have signed an agreement on cooperation to prepare a feasibility study for the integration of the Polish and Ukrainian gas transport systems.
The official signing ceremony took place during the Ukrainian-Polish business forum in Warsaw on Wednesday, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.
The agreement was signed by Chairman of Ukrtransgaz’s Board Ihor Prokopiv and President of GAZ-SYSTEM’s Management Board Jan Chadam.
Ukrtransgaz’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine that the signed document foresees not only the integration of the gas transport systems of both states to boost gas imports to Ukraine from Europe via Poland, but also the storage of European gas in Ukraine’s underground facilities for further delivery to EU consumers.
GAZ-SYSTEM announced in a statement on its website that the main purpose of the agreement is to establish the principles of cooperation in the preparation and analyzes of the investments required for the development of cross-border transmission capacity between Poland and Ukraine. It said that a feasibility study would be prepared as a part of the agreement, which will constitute the basis for making further decisions on the development of the transmission systems of both countries.
According to GAZ-SYSTEM, the integration of the Polish transmission system with the Ukrainian system is part of the North-South Corridor connecting the LNG Terminal in Swinoujscie to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe through the transmission systems of the individual countries and cross-border interconnections. The purpose of this integration is to create a flexibly operating transmission infrastructure in the individual countries connecting Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic States.
The major option for the extension of the gas pipeline on Ukraine’s territory is the construction of a 110 km long interconnector between Drozdovychi and Bilche-Volytsia in Lviv region whose throughput capacity will be 8 billion cubic meters of gas per year in the direction from Poland to Ukraine and 7 billion cubic meters of gas per year in the direction from Ukraine to Poland.
The tentative cost of the construction of the interconnector on the Ukrainian territory is estimated at $245 million.
