The Naftogaz of Ukraine national joint-stock company calls on the European Union to help protect underground gas storage facilities (USF) from russian attacks.
Oleksii Chernyshov, the board chairperson of Naftogaz, said this in an interview with the Financial Times, the Ukrainian News agency reports.
"The EU is interested in protecting storage, transportation, and production facilities, given that Ukraine's gas infrastructure is well integrated into the European energy system," he said.
Chernyshov said that gas storage facilities in western Ukraine had been attacked several times in recent months, but only ground-based facilities were damaged.
At the same time, underground storage facilities, which are located at a depth of up to 3 km underground, were not affected.
"Technologically, we are ready; we managed to repair (damaged ground) equipment, and we fulfill our obligations (to customers)," he said.
According to Chernyshov, American aid will help strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities, but for further protection of infrastructure and assets, "a very large number of air defenses are needed."
"We may find ourselves in a situation where we will still need more air defenses even after receiving aid from the United States, and the EU countries must, of course, play a decisive role in providing that aid," he added.
Chernyshov noted that last year, the Ukrainian USF played an important role in the energy security of the EU.
"They have enabled European countries to refrain from excessive extraction of gas from their reserves. Despite the risks associated with the russian invasion, Ukraine has become an alternative for gas storage. This has become possible in part due to low storage tariffs and the absence of customs duties, which allows easy reimport of gas to the EU," he said.
According to Chernyshov, the Europeans are interested in using Ukrainian USF this year as well.
At the same time, Naftogaz aims to increase the volume of European natural gas stored in Ukraine from 2.5 billion cubic meters last year to 4 billion cubic meters this winter.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on April 27, russia again attacked Naftogaz gas infrastructure facilities.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.