Ukraine has decided to stop buying Russian gas the week before calendar winter begins, based on the warm weather, the opportunity to take a share of European gas and future price cuts, officials and economists, commenting on cessation of supplies of Russian gas to Ukraine, told a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza.
Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said that Ukraine has begun using gas from its underground storages. "The refusal to buy Russian gas will create serious risks for the reliable transit of gas to Europe through Ukraine and for the supply of gas to Ukraine this winter," Alexey Miller stressed.
The chairman of the State Duma Committee for Energy, Ivan Grachyov, expects that Ukraine will steal the gas pumped into underground storage facilities to ensure stable supplies to Europe this winter. "Everything will begin to deteriorate before the New Year if Kyiv really starts to steal the gas intended for the energy security of Europe," he noted.
"Because of this, the likelihood of a shortage of supplies to the EU will increase," Ivan Grachev believes.
The president of the Union of Oil and Gas Producers of Russia, member of the Council for Information and Cooperation of the Fuel and Energy Complex, Gennady Schmal, in his turn, pointed out that there is no precise information about how actively Ukraine plans to expend fuel in the near future. "They have about 17 billion cubic meters of gas in underground storage facilities, and it depends on how they will consume it. The winter has not started yet, but there is already another problem associated with the termination of deliveries of Russian coal. Therefore it is difficult to say how long they could survive," Gennady Schmal said.
"The European Union currently has been actively involved in the organization of supply and its monitoring. There are risks, of course, but I think that if the EU will continue to do this, the supply of our Russian gas to Europe will take place without any problems this winter," the president of the Union of Oil and Gas Producers of Russia noted.
Sberbank CIB analyst Valery Nesterov believes that Ukraine is waiting for the fall of gas prices in the new year. "They didn't pay, because they think the weather is still warm, although this November has almost ended. In addition, they have enough gas in the underground storage facilities and gas imports from Slovakia. In favorable circumstances, Ukraine can get through this period without any additional purchases of Russian gas to buy gas at more favorable prices in the first quarter of next year," he explained.
