The transit of Russian gas through Ukraine increased by 21% in 6 months
In the first half of 2017, gas transit through Ukraine increased by 21% to 45.7 billion cubic meters, as reported on Facebook by Magistralnye Gazoprovody Ukrainy. Gas transported through Ukraine comes from Russia to the EU.
"If these levels are maintained, by the end of the year we can expect 90 billion cubic meters of blue fuel for European consumers to be transported through Ukraine," the report said. Gas production in Ukraine has increased by 3%, reaching 10.3 billion cubic meters and consumption rose by 2% to 17.7 billion cubic meters. The import of gas to Ukraine amounts to 7 billion cubic meters and, according to the company, exceeded last year’s figures by "more than double." The level of gas transported in the first half of the year amounted to 3.7 billion cubic meters.
In 2016, the volume of Russian gas transported to Europe through Ukraine increased by 23% and amounted to 82.2 billion cubic meters. In 2015, this number was 67.1 billion cubic meters. In the first quarter of 2017, the volume of gas transported through Ukraine increased by 20%, with 23.2 billion cubic meters transported.
The gas transit contract with Ukraine is in effect until 2019, however, Russia can continue to transport gas through Ukraine until 2020, the head of Gazprom, Alexey Miller said. At the same time, as of 2020, the volume of transported Russian gas may drop to 15 billion cubic meters per year.