Energy Community sees not extending gas transit contract with Russia as Ukraine’s sovereign decision – Lorkowski

The Energy Community Secretariat will support any decision made by Ukraine with regard to Russian gas transit through its territory.

The relevant statement was made by Energy Community Secretariat Director Artur Lorkowski in an interview with Ukrinform.

“It is a sovereign decision of the Ukrainian government, and the Secretariat will support whatever decision Ukraine makes in this regard,” Lorkowski told, commenting on his stance regarding Ukraine’s intention not to renew its gas transit contract with Russia’s Gazprom.

According to Lorkowski, in a non-transit scenario, Ukraine will remain an important holder of gas storage capacities in Europe.

“It has always been the ambition of the Energy Community to ensure that the gas storage system in Ukraine is utilized by European traders. This is why we have spent the last two years working to de-risk the business of storing gas in Ukraine for Western traders,” Lorkowski noted.

In his words, in cooperation with Ukraine’s gas transmission system operator, the Energy Community Secretariat has already prepared products for gas traders.

“Some of the de-risking mechanisms involve effective communication, and I would like to commend the excellent job done by the owner of the underground storage system in Ukraine. They have provided crucial information about the system's stability and resilience during the war and against military attacks. Additionally, they have prepared products in collaboration with the gas transmission system operator (TSO) for traders, which are now being offered to the market. The regulatory committee, NEURC, is also engaged in approving the appropriate tariffs for these operations,” Lorkowski explained.

According to him, the above factors “contribute to the attractiveness of the gas storage system for customers from the European Union.”

“[…] We aim to continue this work. Our objective is to collaborate with the Ukrainian companies involved – the gas storage system operator and the transmission system operator – as well as with the regulatory authority to prepare the best and most economically competitive products for gas traders in the EU,” Lorkowski added.

He also mentioned that Ukraine’s gas storage system proved to be “relatively resilient to military attacks.”

“We have already observed attempts to attack the gas storage system in Ukraine. That is why the Secretariat, along with other partners, has been engaged in studying the resilience of the system – specifically its technical resilience – under various scenarios. This study has demonstrated that the gas storage system is relatively resilient to military attacks,” Lorkowski said.

The full text of the interview is available at the link.

A reminder that, on October 7, 2024, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stated that Ukraine would not extend its gas transit contract with Russia.