KIEV, June 19 (RIA Novosti) - The creation of a single operator for Ukraine’s gas transport system, with investors from the US and EU, could render construction of the South Stream pipeline unnecessary, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Thursday.
“This will give us the possibility to have new conditions for transporting Russian natural gas. This will give us the ability to halt the construction of South Stream and direct all [gas] volumes that were planned for the South Stream [pipeline] through Ukraine because, first and foremost, this will be in the interests of EU member states,” Yatsenyuk said during a Ukrainian parliamentary session.
Ukraine’s prime minister presented a draft law to the country’s parliament that would allow the government to create a gas transit network operator, with 49 percent owned by US and EU investors. The draft law provides the operator with management and/or concession or rent rights for the major pipelines and underground storage units.
“In accordance with requirements of the third energy package, an operator-company will be created a majority stake will be owned exclusively by the state of Ukraine. 49 percent of this company could be owned exclusively by gas network operators from EU member countries and the US, if these companies are properly certified,” Yatsenyuk said. According to the prime minister, this would create the opportunity to modernize and invest in the Ukrainian gas transit network and increase its capitalization.
The South Stream project is being constructed to diversify export routes for Russian gas to Europe. The pipeline is to transport Russian natural gas across the Black Sea to Bulgaria and other EU countries. The first commercial deliveries via the pipeline are expected in the first quarter of 2016, with the pipeline becoming fully operational in 2018.
