Direct deliveries of Norwegian gas to Ukraine will be possible starting in 2022
Ukraine will be able to receive gas directly from Norway starting in 2022, said the Advisor to the Minister of Energy and Coal Industry, Maxim Belyavsky, referring to the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between Poland and Denmark to ensure direct gas supplies from Norway.
"The direct flow of Norwegian gas to Ukraine is now a reality, starting from 2022. What remains for us is to build a pipeline inter-connector between Ukraine and Poland. The procurement of pipes should begin in the fall," Belyavsky wrote on Facebook, while also publishing a copy of the text of the memorandum.
Ukraine first began purchasing Norwegian gas in October 2014. Then Naftogaz of Ukraine started buying gas from Statoil, and supplies were transported through the Slovak gas corridor.
The inter-connector gas pipeline between Poland and Ukraine, which Belyavsky mentions, will unite the gas transportation systems of the two countries and provide an opportunity to increase the volume of gas imports to Ukraine from Europe through pipes laid in Polish territory. It will also allow European gas to be stored in Ukraine's underground gas storage facilities.
The throughput between Poland and Ukraine will amount to 21.9 million cubic meters per day or 8 billion cubic meters per year against the current 1.5 billion cubic meters. In the opposite direction, the potential flow is 19.2 million cubic meters of gas per day or 7 billion cubic meters in a year.