Uncertain Russian gas transit has increased interest in pumping gas into Ukraine's underground gas storage (UGS) facilities, Director General of Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine LCC (TSO of Ukraine) Sergiy Makogon has said.

According to him, today, the Ukrainian UGS facilities have 2.32 billion cubic meters of gas of nonresidents of the country in the "customs warehouse" mode.

"This means approximately UAH 620 million with VAT of additional income for Ukrtransgaz and, accordingly, significant additional revenues to the budget. I personally did not expect that in the first year we will achieve such results, my plans were much more modest, but it should be noted that the situation with the uncertainty of continuing transit has significantly enhanced the interest in underground gas storage facilities throughout Europe, including Ukraine," he wrote on his Facebook page.

He recalled that before 2014, the UGS facilities of Ukraine were mainly used by Naftogaz Ukrainy and local traders. It was possible to change the situation after the implementation of the task, to make work with Ukrainian UGS facilities understandable and attractive for foreign traders. The UGS code complying with best European practices was developed and adopted.

"At the same time, we were looking for an opportunity of creating favorable conditions for nonresidents in order to attract additional volumes of gas for storage in our underground gas storage facilities. We borrowed the idea of creating a "customs warehouse" from the Hungarian underground gas storage operator," Makogon said.

"As the head of TSO of Ukraine, I am no longer engaged in this type of activity, but we, of course, will continue active cooperation between the TSO and UGS operators to meet the needs of our common customers. I am confident in the bright future of Ukrainian UGS facilities not only as an important element of energy security in Europe, but and as part of a regional gas hub," he said.