Economy

Russia could halt gas transit via Ukraine even without launch of Nord Stream 2 – Naftogaz chief

Russia's Gazprom has a technical capability of halting the use of the Ukrainian gas transmission system (GTS) even if the construction of the alternative route Nord Stream 2 is not completed, Chairman of the Executive Board of NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy Andriy Kobolev said at the Ukraine: Game of Thrones: Final Season? international investment conference organized by Cocorde Capital in Kyiv on Thursday.

“According to our estimates, the Russian side has the technical capability not to use gas transit viaUk next year, even if Nord Stream 2 is not built. At the same time, it can fulfill the minimum volumes of gas supplies to European consumers under the existing contracts of Gazprom. Deficit of gas supply in this situation is approximately 5 billion cubic meters. These calculations coincide with the calculations of several large international institutions," he said.

Kobolev said that at present, Gazprom supplies gas to Europe on an accelerated basis, which creates additional resource reserves, which currently hit a record.

"I think that these additional reserves are being created to cover this deficit. Therefore, in my opinion, which is also shared by our European partners, the likelihood that on January 1, 2020 we will receive a complete cessation of transit, as it was in January 2009 is quite high," Kobolev said.

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