Ukrainian gas producing companies will have to pay for gas transportation twice over the decisions made by the National Commission for Energy, Housing and Utilities Services Regulation (NCER), public joint-stock company Ukrnafta has said.

"Since April the company has to pay for gas transportation twice: under the tariffs that are in effect from January 1, 2017 and under new tariffs approved in resolution No. 348 [introduces the customer charge for gas distribution] that was left in effect for gas producers [it was annulled for other companies returning to the old tariff system]. Due to these steps by the regulator the monthly fee for transportation of own gas for Ukrnafta would reach around UAH 76 million instead of UAH 44 million," the company said.

Ukrnafta said that the double fee means additional expenses of UAH 289 million for the company in 2017. This damages competitive positions of Ukrainian gas producers compared to gas importers that pay only once for gas transportation.