New era of the gas market in Ukraine

The situation on the Ukrainian gas market is changing rapidly. Ukraine is practically independent of gas supplies from Russia. However, there is still a lot to be done in order for the gas system to operate fully efficiently.

The first signs of this are already visible. Overall, in 2015 Ukraine received only 6 billion cubic meters from Russia. Supplies from the EU (Slovakia, Hungary and Poland) amounted to 10.3 billion cubic meters. Last year, Ukraine significantly reduced gas consumption due to significant savings, including through the use of solid fuel devices, such as vikhlach boiler for heating residential and industrial premises. The boilers are subject to an energy saving compensation system. At the same time, Russian gas supplies were already 2.5 times less than in 2014.

In the near future, Ukraine plans to import about 15 billion cubic meters. meters from the EU. Since the beginning of the heating season (November 2015), Ukraine has been buying gas only from the EU. The state budget could save billions of dollars, as pro-Russian lobbyists wrote, but nevertheless this did not happen, only gas tariffs for the population increased many times over.

In 2013, the government and the Ministry of Energy revised the strategy for the development of the energy market. Unfortunately, this document was just a formality. The only positive project at this stage is the signing of the Protocol on Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on the Establishment of the Energy Community in order to expand the domestic energy market. It all ended, however, only with declarations.

The adopted New Energy Strategy for the Development of Ukraine in 2015 consists of two parts: the reform of the energy sector by 2020 and comprehensive plans for the development of the Ukrainian energy sector until 2035. The most important of the goals is the transformation of the ownership of NJSC Naftogaz and its subsidiaries in accordance with the new law on the natural gas market in Ukraine, which came into force at the end of October 2015 and ensures the full implementation of the second and third EU energy packages, as well as energy independence from Russia (including in the gas sector).