Ukraine reduces Russian gas imports by another 1/4th
The supply of Russian gas to Ukraine fell 23.2 percent in January and February compared to the same period last year, the Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Ministry has reported.
A source within the ministry also confirmed Russian oil giant
Gazprom’s claim that Ukraine is using a reversal scheme to acquire
Russian gas at a lower price.
Russian gas supplies to the Ukraine have effectively decreased by
75 percent since 2011: In the first two months of 2013, Kiev bought
4.74 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia; deliveries in January
and February of 2012 totaled 6.17 billion cubic meters, and 12.4
billion cubic meters in 2011.
Also, the amount of Russian gas transported across Ukrainian
territory during the same period fell by 24.3 percent to 13.4
billion cubic meters.
Ukrainian authorities say that high prices have forced them to
look for ways to reduce the country’s dependence on Russian
gas.
In February, Ukraine agreed to reverse gas supplies with
Hungarian-German energy company RWE. Kiev is also reportedly eying
similar deals with neighboring Poland, Slovakia and Romania. Though
Ukraine’s reserve supplies are reportedly minimal at the moment,
Kiev claims it will purchase up to 30 billion cubic meters of gas
from Europe, fully satisfying the country’s demand for imported
fuel.
On Saturday, Gazprom head Aleksey Miller alleged that Kiev’s
purchases from Hungary are actually Russian gas, which is resold to
Ukraine right after crossing the border. Miller called such a
scheme “fraud,” which requires a “thorough
investigation.”
On April 1, an unnamed source in the Ukrainian Energy and Coal
Industry Ministry confirmed Gazprom’s allegations: "We do not
see any law violation here. The gas goes abroad and then it’s being
returned to Ukraine by its new owner,” he told Kommersant
newspaper.
The source stressed that the arrangement proves that Russian gas
sold to Ukraine is overpriced, as the purchase of the same Gazprom
fuel from Europe is “7 percent cheaper for [Ukrainian national
energy company] Naftogaz” than direct imports from Russia.
Kiev pays $390 per 1,000 cubic meters of Russian gas purchased in
Europe, while Russia sells Ukraine its gas at $406 per 1,000 cubic
meters, as of the first quarter of 2013.
Ukraine currently owes Gazprom $7 billion in fines for failing to
import an agreed-upon volume of natural gas in 2012; in February,
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said that Kiev has no plans
to pay the debt.
