Russia and the Ukraine not to get rid of mutual dependence in gas sector by 2019
Gazprom said it plans to stop gas transit via the Ukraine after 2019 when the contract with Naftogas expires. We don’t think these plans are real. There are such markets as Czech, Slovakia, Hungary which are dependent on the Ukrainian corridor. Turkish Stream may help to diversify the supplies of the Russian gas and leave the Ukrainian corridor but this is a very long way and the economic efficiency should be counted, Mr. Pirani said.
“We think the Ukraine’s intention to reduce the gas import from Russia to zero cannot be reached. The gas consumption has fallen by 1/3, but we don’t think the consumption will fall below 40 bln cubic m a year. The Ukraine is under the threat of the economic crisis. Coal will not be able to become the alternative to gas”, he added.
In December 2014 Russia announced of its turning away from the South Stream which was to go via the bottom of the Black Sea and via Bulgaria to ship fuel to the Balkan countries, Hungary, Austria and Italy. It was decided to construct Turkish Stream instead. In future Russia plans to terminate gas transit to the EU via the Ukraine.
