Kiev, May 15 - Neftegaz.RU. According to Unian, CEO of Ukraininan Naftogaz Andriy Kobolyev says the company has worked out a likely scenario for the halt of Russian gas transit via Ukrainian territory from early 2020.
The plan is set to secure the country against Russia's gas blackmail. "Gazprom's interruption of gas transit through Ukraine in January 2020, when the validity of the current contract expires, is quite a likely scenario. Of course, we are unwilling this, but we must be fully prepared for destructive actions on the part of Russia," he wrote on Facebook on May 14.
According to Kobolyev, Naftogaz took a number of measures. In particular, the state-owned operator of Ukraine's gas transportation system (GTS), Ukrtransgaz, held a meeting of dispatchers, during which they worked out the details of organizing Ukraine's GTS operation in reverse mode, which will be activated in case of zero transit.
The company has been working to eliminate the weakest links that could jeopardize the operation of the country's GTS, Kobolyev added. Among other things, the Bar compressor station is under reconstruction given its importance for the system's stable operations amid the lack of gas flow.
Moreover, intensive gas injection into the country's underground storage facilities (USFs) is under way. It is planned to accumulate by the next heating season some 20 billion cu m of gas. Under such conditions, the GTS will retain stable operations, ensuring the delivery of gas to all consumers.
"Our full readiness to [Russia's] interruption of [gas] transit is the best stopping factor against Gazprom and a fuse against gas blackmail," he added.
