Slovakia opened a pipeline yesterday able to deliver natural gas from the EU to Ukraine, marking a major step in the bloc’s efforts to aid the country in its escalating dispute with Russia.
Opening up so-called reverse gas flows eastward is part of the EU’s response to Gazprom’s decision to cut supplies to Kiev on June 16 in a row over pricing and in the wake of Moscow’s annexation of Crimea.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyiuk said the opening of the pipeline that could potentially meet up to 20 per cent of Ukraine’s demand showed his country was united with the EU, which is also worried about a Russian supply cut this winter.
“Ukraine can state today we made this first step together with our Slovak friends and the European Commission to diversify the energy supply and to decrease energy dependence,” Yatseniuk told reporters at a gas pumping station near the Ukraine border.
Russia has halted gas flows to Ukraine three times in the past decade – in 2006, 2009 and since June this year – because of price disputes with Kiev, although this year gas intended for EU customers have so far continued to flow via Ukraine.
The problem for Ukraine is that continental Europe’s pipeline infrastructure was built from East-to-West in order to import Russian gas, a situation that has spurred EU officials to open up reverse supply routes to help Ukraine.
Russia is Europe’s biggest supplier of oil, coal and natural gas, and its pipelines through Ukraine are currently subject to political manoeuvring, not for the first time, as the West and Moscow clash over the latter’s military action in Ukraine.
Russia has been hit by heavy sanctions over its move on Crimea and accusations it is supporting separatists in east Ukraine with troops and funds, claims it denies.
Should supplies to Europe dry up, it is likely that Germany will be first in line to ensure smooth supplies this winter due in part to healthy reserves and steady deliveries from the Yamal and Nord Stream pipelines, both of which avoid Ukraine.
Germany also has access to North Sea pipelines linking it to Norwegian, Dutch and British gas fields, and it can also bring in liquefied natural gas (LNG) imported by tankers from North Africa and the Middle East to Belgium and the Netherlands.
German utility RWE earlier this year delivered small supplies to Ukraine from its pan-European portfolio via Poland and Slovakia to demonstrate that shipping gas eastward was a viable option.