Naftogaz CEO proposes creating single database of gas consumers allowing all market players to access it
CEO of national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy Andriy Kobolev has proposed that a single database of natural gas consumers is created, allowing all market players to have access to it.
"There is the only option that I consider correct: the generation of consumer codes should be carried out by the state-owned company Ukrtransgaz, which should have a single database. This database should be accessible to all market participants, it should be open. Then small consumers can freely switch from one supplier to another," he said in an interview with Channel 5 TV on Wednesday evening.
According to him, regional gas industry is opposed to the creation of this database for today. "It is unprofitable for the monopolists-regional gas companies, which now keep these consumers, do not disclose their real codes to anyone, blackmailing them with disconnection from supply if they try to switch to another supplier," Kobolev said.
He added that for the company the issue of obtaining access to the final consumer is one of the strategic ones for 2019.
Kobolev again reminded that the lack of a complete and correct list of consumers is delaying the launch of the daily gas balancing market, which was postponed from December 1, 2018 to March 1, 2019.
"Without checking it out and without this list being loaded into the central database of Ukrtransgaz, we cannot guarantee that all consumers will have gas. Regional gas supply companies did not submit all consumers to this database. For example, about a hundred Naftogaz customers, and this is thermal generation, were not available in this database. If the system was launched from December 1, then all customers who are not in the database simply would have not received gas, they would have been disconnected," he said.