Russia's Gazprom Sees Risks to Gas Transit to Europe This Winter

The Russian gas giant Gazprom warned there were risks to gas transit to the European Union via Ukraine this winter due to the low level of gas Ukraine is pumping into its underground storage facilities, the company's spokesperson said Monday.

"Now there is a backlog of 2.1 billion cubic meters compared to the previous year. If this remains the same, Ukraine will pump about 15 billion cubic meters of gas into underground storage facilities. [While] last year, there were 17.1 billion cubic meters," the spokesperson said, citing Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller.

According to the spokesperson, the current daily level of pumping is insufficient for Ukraine to reach the necessary volume of 17 billion cubic meters. Therefore, Gazprom foresees potential problems with the transit of gas this winter, as not enough time is left before October, when the autumn-winter season begins.

On August 18, Andriy Kobolev, CEO of Ukraine's national energy company Naftogaz, said that the company planned to pump about 14.5 billion cubic meters of gas into underground storage facilities before the heating season begins. According to him, this will be enough for a comfortable winter passing.
  [sputniknews.com]
22/8/16