KIEV: Ukraine is interested in importing Romanian natural gas to diversify its supplies, a senior Ukrainian energy official said on Tuesday.
“They (Romania) are looking for a market, while this gas is interesting for us as a diversification (of supplies),” Ihor Prokopiv, the president of Ukraine’s gas transport monopoly Ukrtransgaz, told reporters.
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Prokopiv said Romania was likely to have up to 2 billion cubic meters of free gas available for exports in 2016. Ukraine, which used to cover most of its gas needs with supplies from Russia, has started buying gas from the European Union too in a bid to reduce bills and lessen its energy dependence on Moscow.
Kiev now buys 50 percent of its imported gas from Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, the rest is supplied by Russia, according to Ukrtransgaz data.
Romania already exports its gas to Moldova, Ukraine’s south-western neighbour. The pipeline that links the Romanian and Moldovan gas transport systems has the capacity to pump up to 1.5 billion cubic metres of gas per year.
In April, Ukraine signed an interim deal for cheaper supplies of gas from Russia for the next three months.Under the deal Ukraine will buy Russian gas at $248 per thousand cubic metres in April-June. This compares with the $329 it was paying for the same volume under the agreement for the past winter.
