Filling the new gas daily balancing platform by regional gas suppliers with information a week before its launch (March 1) remains a problem, Naftogaz Ukrainy CEO Andriy Kobolev wrote on his Facebook page on Friday.

"There are still big problems with the filling of the information platform. Regional gas supply companies do not place all the required information. The average information placing rate, as of February 6, is 84%," he wrote.

He said that some gas distribution system operators did not enter the data in full, and some did not place the information at all.

"This creates great risks for the launch of daily balancing. It is also very disturbing that the NCER [the National Commission for Energy, Housing and Utilities Services Regulation] has not yet punished the regional gas companies for the actions that led to the breakdown of the switch to the new [daily balancing] system at the end of 2018," he said.

The head of Naftogaz also said that the regulator has not made changes to the Code of the gas transmission system (GTS) in terms of unauthorized gas extraction. In addition, he recalled that the temporary tariffs set by Ukrtransgaz for natural gas transportation services for entry and exit points set by the regulator could result in a loss of UAH 22 billion for the year.

As reported, the NCER at the end of November 2018 for the third time postponed the launch date of daily gas balancing – from December 1, 2018 to March 1, 2019.