Over ten months of 2020, Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine LLC (GTSOU) transmitted from the EU countries to Ukraine in the shorthaul mode (a preferential transit tariff for certain points) 6.1 billion cubic meters of gas, and almost all of this volume is still stored in underground facilities, however, in October, for the first time in history, 15 million cubic meters of gas were re-exported to the EU countries at the request of its owners.

"Another significant milestone for the gas market is the start of the re-export of gas that was previously imported to Ukraine from the EU. Previously, there was only transit and import," Head of Gas Transmission System Operator Serhiy Makogon said on Facebook.

"Our forecasts have come true, so Ukraine has started a full re-export of gas to the EU," Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolev said.

According to Makogon, Gas Transmission System Operator has already earned about UAH 500 million in revenue from providing the shorthaul service, which has become a completely new source of income for the company.

"When in 2016-2017, back in Ukrtransgaz, we designed new products 'customs warehouse' and shorthaul, we did not hope that they would gain popularity among traders so quickly," the head of the company said.

Kobolev also said that due to attractive terms for gas storage, the Ukrainian underground storage facilities (UGS), operated by Naftogaz's subsidiary Ukrtransgaz, are 90% full, what is a record figure over the past ten years: now foreign traders own 10 billion cubic meters of gas from 28.3 billion cubic meters.

Gas Transmission System Operator said in a press release that over ten months of 2020 the volume of gas transportation at the entrance to Ukraine in the shorthaul mode from Slovakia amounted to 4.1 billion cubic meters, while 1.5 billion cubic meters from Hungary and 500 million cubic meters from Poland.

In October, the volume of transportation to the entrance decreased to 16.6 million cubic meters (all from Poland) with 1.17 billion cubic meters in September and 2.01 billion cubic meters in August.

Since the launch of the service, some 24 non-resident customers and five Ukrainian companies have used the shorthaul service.

The operator said that almost all volumes of shorthaul were delivered by traders to underground gas storage facilities for storage in the "customs warehouse" mode, and since the beginning of the year, the operator has sent 10.1 billion cubic meters gas to the Ukrtransgaz UGS operator for storage in a "customs warehouse."

According to the release, gas output from Ukraine in the shorthaul mode during this time amounted to 17.1 million cubic meters, namely, some 2,000 cubic meters to Slovakia, some 13.7 million cubic meters to Hungary and 3.4 million cubic meters to Poland.