Germany to help Ukraine modernize gas transmission system
Peter Beyer, the German government’s Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation, said that Germany will help Ukraine to upgrade its gas transmission system (GTS).
“It’s not the case that Ukraine is being left on its own. On the contrary, we have obligations, and we will keep them,” Beyer said in an interview on German radio.
He admitted that the agreement between Russia and Ukraine to extend gas transit “is actually shorter than initially imagined”, but an important consideration is that Germany and other countries have undertaken to modernize Ukraine’s outdated pipeline network.
“We will help Ukraine to modernize it,” he assured.
Beyer emphasized that the German government has an obligation to consumers and citizens to ensure a safe gas supply. However, he added that everything is changing: the pipelines and the energy supply terms.
He predicted that the US sanctions will delay the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline at least until the second half of 2020.
As reported previously, Ukraine, Russia and the European Commission have agreed to extend the transit of Russian gas to the EU through Ukraine’s GTS. Naftogaz of Ukraine and Russia’s Gazprom have also reached consensus on how to settle their mutual legal claims.
According to the agreement, the new contract will last five years, and will allow for the possibility of extension by another ten years on the same terms.
The minimum guaranteed volume of Russian gas for transit through Ukraine will be 65 billion cubic meters in 2020 and 40 billion cubic meters per year in 2021-2024. The agreements did not include the matter of Russia supplying Ukraine with gas directly.