Ukraine rules out gas storage tariff increases until April 1, 2025

18 March 2024 / 14:53

Ukraine offers attractive and competitive tariffs to underground gas storage customers, which will remain unchanged until April 1, 2025.

"One of our key objectives for 2024 is to increase the volume of gas stored by foreign energy companies in Ukraine’s underground storage facilities. Last year, despite the war, foreign traders entrusted us with 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas. We need to maintain their trust and attract more partners. Tariff policy is a key factor demonstrating our attractiveness and stability," said Naftogaz Group CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov.

Naftogaz Group, which manages Ukraine’s UGS Ukrtransgaz, also offers partners the option of storage in "customs warehouse" mode. This allows for the storage of gas for 1095 days without paying taxes and customs duties along with the possibility of trading on domestic and foreign markets.

"More than 160 foreign energy companies from 32 countries around the world use store gas in 'customs warehouse' mode in Ukraine’s UGS. We are actively preparing for the injection season so that both Ukrainian and foreign companies can smoothly inject significant volumes of gas into storage," commented Roman Malyutin, head of Ukrtransgaz.

Ukrtransgaz has already begun preparations for the start of this year’s gas injection season, which begins in April. To ensure the reliability and safety of storage for all clients, the company is conducting scheduled checks and maintenance of main and auxiliary equipment.

Background: 80% of Ukraine's underground storage facilities are located in western Ukraine, far from the front line. Numerous measures have been taken to ensure their protection from potential attacks and war-related damage.

Independent technical expertise has also confirmed the operational reliability of Ukraine's UGS, even under conditions of enemy attack on Ukraine's gas infrastructure. Ukrtransgaz also became the second operator of gas storage facilities in Europe to successfully undergo certification according to new EU rules.

In February 2024, The Economist published an article stating that in 2023, European traders managed to earn approximately $320 million as a result of storing gas in Ukraine's UGS.