Naftogaz to continue issuing bills for transit by Gazprom using old tariffs – Ukrainian minister
The new method for the formation of a tariff for natural gas transit via Ukraine now would not touch the current payments between national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy and OJSC Gazprom, as they are regulated by the contract of 2009, Energy and Coal Industry Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Demchyshyn told reporters in Kyiv on Thursday.
"Now we do not have the base [to issue bills] with new tariffs, as the contract has not been signed. We're working under the existing contracts," he said on the sidelines of the conference devoted to the operation of global export-credit agencies in Ukraine.
Demchyshyn said that Ukraine plans to achieve the revision of the contract to take into account the new methods for tariff formation, not waiting for the expiration of the transit agreement with Gazprom in 2019.
"We would not make the decision, would not cooperate with our regulator to decide and then to say let's wait until 2019. The decision was made to live under the new rules," the minister said.
The new method for the formation of the price of gas transit via Ukraine introduced by the National Commission for Energy, Housing and Utilities Services Regulation of Ukraine (NCER) from 2016 increases the tariff for Russian gas transit by around 50% and even more, which is around $4.50 per 1,000 cubic meters each 100 km.
According to the contract on gas transit signed by Naftogaz and Gazprom in 2009, the tariff for gas transportation across Ukraine is floating and it is calculated using the formula depending on the cost of the fuel and inflation in Europe. In Q2 2015, the tariff was $2.70 per 1,000 each 100 km.
Naftogaz in late December 2015 proposed that Naftogaz and Gazprom hold negotiations in relation to the adoption of the new rules for the formation of the tariffs for gas transportation in the country.
According to the decision of the NCER dated December 29, 2015, from January 1, 2016 the tariff of $12.47 per 1,000 cubic meters is set for all entry points (Kobrin, Mozyr, Pisarevka 1400, Sudzha 1200, Sudzha 1400, Ustyluh and others).
For exit points the following tariffs are set: Ananyiv - $16.74, Berehovo - $31.03, Hrebenyky-ATI (Ananyiv, Tiraspol, Izmail) - $16.74, Hrebenyky-ShDKRI (Shebelynka, Dnipropetrovsk, Kryvy Rih, Izmail) - $21.33, Drozdovychi - $25.73, Oleksiyivka - $32.16, Orlivka - $23.12, Tekovo - $28.99, Uzhgorod - $32.80, Ustyluh - $25.73 and all the rest of exit points - $25.73.
The commission also approved the requirements for consumption of natural gas for technical needs and standard consumption for exit points: Ananyiv – 1.73%, Berehovo – 2.58%, Hrebenyky-ATI – 1.73%, Hrebenyky-ShDKRI – 2.01%, Drozdovychi – 1.91%, Oleksiyivka – 2.65%, Orlivka – 2.11%, Tekovo – 2.46%, Uzhgorod – 2.69%, Ustyluh – 1.91% and other points – 1.91%.
The commission was authorized to set the above-mentioned rates under the law on natural gas, which was passed in spring 2015 to introduce European Union energy market norms in Ukraine.
