National joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy will provide for designing of the gas transport system (GTS) modernization plan, the company's press service has reported.

"This task was supposed to be performed by the new TSO [the transport system operator] envisaged by the unbundling plan which was adopted by the government in July 2016. However, since a number of ministries have significantly delayed the plan's implementation, no conditions have been created for this work. Naftogaz will therefore step in to make sure the GTS modernization plan is developed," the company said.

According to the approved unbundling plan, the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine was supposed to ensure that the corporate governance structure of the new TSO is established in line with its corporate governance action plan by the beginning of October 2016.

"This included the appointment of a supervisory board (consisting mostly of independent directors) and a competent management. This management's responsibility would be to elaborate the development plan for Ukraine’s GTS, including its modernization. Unfortunately, the government has not started carrying out the new TSO’s corporate governance plan," the company said.

Naftogaz said that further delaying the development of the system's modernization plan is unacceptable.