Zerkal: Ukraine can keep transit with Nord Stream 2 launched

KYIV. Sept 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – With the launch of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project by Russia, Ukraine can preserve the volume of gas transit, subject to a joint opposition to the Gazprom monopoly with the EU and the United States, advisor to the Energy Minister Lana Zerkal has said.

"Gas prices have skyrocketed to record heights. European storage facilities are not filling up. Nonresidents are already withdrawing gas from Ukrainian storage facilities… It is very likely that Putin will make – or has already made – the decision to completely stop transit through Ukrainian territory… We will definitely have to reconfigure our gas transmission system. Otherwise, for example, Mariupol has every chance of being left without gas. Such realignment is a complex technological operation, top performance in the field of gas transportation. Although our specialists have already learned this and know very well what to do," the advisor to the minister wrote in her column for the publication European Pravda publication on Saturday.

Zerkal is confident that Ukraine must continue to work to advance the issue of market integration.

"All is not lost, we can win. The seriousness of the situation does not mean that there is no room for maneuver in Ukraine. On the contrary, we can and should take advantage of the situation to move forward on the issue of integrating markets," she wrote.

In her opinion, it is necessary to make a number of arrangements aimed at protecting Ukrainian interests by countering the Russian gas monopoly – Gazprom – jointly with European countries and the United States.

"It is necessary to protect consumers from possible transit stops and not only to provide the necessary volume of gas for the heating season in our underground storage facilities… The condition sufficient to ensure the security of Ukraine is the inclusion of our country in the same European "risk group" with Germany, Slovakia and Poland. "Risk groups" are a mechanism specially developed in Europe to prevent crisis situations with gas availability. If Ukraine is included in this mechanism, blackmailing Ukraine will mean simultaneously blackmailing Germany. And for Russians, these are "two big differences," Zerkal said.

"We must join forces with all international partners and focus on the main thing: to prove that Russia, in particular Gazprom, continues abusing its monopoly on gas supplies to the EU via pipelines… And here it is important to stop hoping that there is someone who can save us, but focus on a simple task: forcing Nord Stream 2 to comply with all the requirements of the EU Third Energy Package. These are European rules that will break Gazprom’s monopoly on gas supplies. If all Russian gas pipelines comply with these rules, then different suppliers and traders will join the competition. And we will be able to maintain transit, load our gas transmission system and at the same time significantly reduce prices. This battle continues and a common victory is possible," she said.

Zerkal also said that the main thing is "belief in our own achievements, adherence to the rules by the government and managers of state-owned enterprises and the professionalism of our diplomats. We will succeed with this formula."