The head of Ukraine’s state energy company Naftogaz, Olexiy Chernyshov, on Sunday reiterated Ukraine’s threat not to send Russian gas to Central Europe from 2025. Experts are not very impressed by this.
According to gas expert Carola Millgramm, Ukraine would be violating EU law. “As long as the line is there and working, it is also true that gas can flow via Ukraine, and Russian gas can also flow,” Millgramm said in the Ö1 lunch magazine.
Gewessler: “That’s no secret”
In an interview with US-funded broadcaster Radio Liberty, the Naftogaz boss recalled that the transit contract with Russia’s Gazprom group expires at the end of 2024. Months ago, representatives of the Ukrainian government had repeatedly stated that they did not want to renew the contract.
“This is not a secret, this has been known for a long time,” Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler (The Greens) said when asked by journalists at a railway meeting in Vienna on Monday. “What we don’t know today can have a detailed impact on practical and operational processing.”
Carola Millgramm, head of the gas department at energy regulator E-Control, is not very impressed by this. “Ukraine also wants to become a member of the EU, which means it must also comply with EU law – and EU law stipulates that network operators who have available capacity must offer it transparently on booking platforms. This means that Gazprom Export may not be able to book these capacities, but European gas traders can of course also book them.”
However, former E-Control board member Walter Boltz does not believe that a gas buyer would be willing to accept the war risk of transporting gas through Ukraine. “I find it difficult to imagine that OMV would do that and I think it is also quite unlikely for other suppliers,” says Boltz in an interview with Ö1-Mittagsjournal.
OMV reserved
Partly state-owned OMV declined to comment specifically on Ukraine’s repeated announcement, simply pointing out that the country was making progress in diversifying supply sources and transport routes and that OMV’s gas storage facilities were full.
Gewessler refers to the expansion of the Western Austrian gas pipeline, planned by Gas Connect Austria. E-Control already approved the second tube in the summer. “This has to be built now,” Gewessler insists. However, Gas Connect Austria still considers the financing unclear and approvals are still lacking. The expanded line cannot be put into service until mid-2027 at the earliest.
Still dependent on Russia
Energy expert Boltz believes that Austria is not sufficiently prepared for a stop to Russian gas supplies. Although gas storage facilities are practically full, infrastructure expansion has been “criminally neglected” and insufficient attention has been paid to other sources to replace Russian gas.
The expansion of the gas pipeline has a state guarantee, making financing very secure, says Boltz. “If you start more or less immediately, I think the line could very well be put into use at the end of ’24, beginning of ’25.” The investment for Gas Connect is around 200 million euros, “a reasonable manageable amount”.
SPÖ and NEOS accuse the government of failing to secure gas supplies. The FPÖ Lower Austria sees “domestic natural gas production as an opportunity to once again guarantee affordable and, above all, independent energy for our own population,” it said in a statement.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
