Ukraine will be able to buy on the European spot markets and import via Slovakia up to 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year starting from 2015-2016, the secretary of the expert council on the development of the gas industry and the natural gas market, Leonid Unihovsky, has said.
"Taking into account our ability to store gas in underground storage facilities, we will be able to buy a certain amount [of gas] on the so-called spot markets in Europe and store it in our system… Our Slovak colleagues have confirmed that in future they will be able to supply up to 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Ukraine per year, starting from 2015-2016," he said.
The expert said that allegations by Russia about its plans to cut gas transit through Ukraine to Europe "to zero" are far from reflecting reality.
"According to our calculations, after the construction of South Stream and Nord Stream, there could be a reduction in the transit volume to 40-50 billion cubic meters per year, but not to zero," Unihovsky said.
At the same time, the reduction in Russian gas transit will allow the use of Ukrainian pipelines to import gas from Europe, he said.
"A reduction in the transit load of the Ukrainian system means the expansion of opportunities for the supply of gas to Ukraine from Europe, rather than vice versa. The capacity of the Ukrainian gas market is one of the largest in Europe, and Gazprom should think twice before losing this market. If there is a significant reduction, there will be a significant loss of market," Unihovsky said.
