On June 30, 2022, USAID Ukraine’s Senior Energy Advisor Sukru Bogut and USAID Energy Security Project (ESP) Gas Team Lead Justin Goonesinghe spoke at the 4th South-East European Gas (SEEGAS) Initiative Joint Steering Committee Crisis Response Meeting.
In his presentation “Support to Energy Security Cooperation Between Ukraine and Europe,” Senior Energy Advisor to USAID’s Mission in Ukraine Sukru Bogut focused on the cooperation beneficial to all partners. “European use of Ukraine’s underutilized gas transmission and large storage capacities can create multiple benefits for all parties, such as increasing liquidity in the Ukrainian gas sector, facilitating reverse flow investments and rapidly supporting regional security of supply,” said Mr. Bogut.
USAID ESP Gas Team Lead Justin Goonesinghe, underlined that given the current challenges that EU and Ukrainian gas markets face and considering the significant storage and transportation capacities that Ukraine may offer, USAID ESP supports increasing energy security cooperation between the EU and Ukraine.
EU market participants may use the storage capacities in the West of Ukraine to secure gas supply in case of Russian gas supply disruption. In the case of Russian gas transit disruption, increasing firm capacities is critical to ensure the availability of physical gas flows to Ukraine. To support the use of the Ukrainian gas system and increase the country’s firm capacities, technical and legal barriers should be removed, available storage capacities should be reassessed, new capacity products should be designed and licensing conditions and taxation may be improved.
The SEEGAS JSC also took note of the information regarding the Energy Security Project performed under the auspicious of USAID and exchanged views on the concerns regarding the availability of different capacity products (including firm) on the cross-border point from Poland to Ukraine and the requirements for licensing in Ukraine. The Ukrainian and Polish stakeholders expressed readiness for the continuation of cooperation to abolish any barrier to accessing their gas markets and storage facilities in Ukraine within their capacity.