Ukraine cannot yet 'break away' from Russia's energy system
(Baonghean.vn) - Vitaly Shubin - Deputy Minister of Energy and Environment of Ukraine stated that Kiev is trying to disconnect and separate from the Russian energy system, but in the near future, this is impossible.
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| Russian gas pipeline. Photo: Ria Novosti |
Ukraine stopped importing Russian gas in 2015, but last September the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) allowed the resumption of bilateral agreements with Russia and Belarus. In October the cooperation mechanism was put back into operation.
New technological trends have been regulated by a number of technical agreements between Russian and Ukrainian energy system operators, Shubin added.
He also expressed hope that in the next three years, favorable conditions will be created for integration with the European energy system.
The resumption of gas imports has opened up a new market model in Ukraine: the state is no longer the only buyer and seller, and prices have become independent. Not only gas, in the first two months of 2019 alone, Kiev imported 558 million kWh of electricity from Russia.
Commenting on Kiev's reverse gas purchases from European countries, at a meeting with the Director of the Russian Energy Company Gazprom, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev expressed regret that Ukrainian people are having to pay 25% more than they would to import gas from Russia.
However, Prime Minister Medvedev stressed that this was Kiev's choice, "it is their right".
