Ukraine imports record-high gas volume from EU in January

Макроэкономика 03.02.2015 Ukraine’s import of natural gas from EU countries exceeded 1 bcm in January, the first time in the history of its imports from the West. Slovakia supplied 1.004 bcm of gas to Ukraine and Hungary delivered 0.063 bcm in January, the Interfax-Ukrayina news agency reported on Feb. 2, while no gas supplies from the Polish side were recorded. Gas imports from Russia amounted to 0.9 bcm in January. In the single day of Jan. 31, Ukraine imported 42.5 mcm of gas from the EU and 20.6 mcm from Russia, according to Interfax. Alexander Paraschiy: The January statistics imply that Ukraine is practically able to import more than 15.5 bcm of natural gas annually from EU countries, which is almost three-quarters of its total import needs (which we estimate at 21 bcm p.a.). Potentially, Ukraine may further cut gas imports from Russia, which had been its major supplier in 2014, providing 14.4 bcm to Ukraine, or 74% of all imported gas. After a 44% yoy decline in gas imports from Russia in 2014, Ukraine can potentially at least halve these imports further in 2015. Clearly, the increased capacity from the EU adds some bargaining power to the Ukrainian side in its future negotiations on gas price with Moscow. Their interim contract that enables Ukraine to import Russian gas on mutually agreed conditions terminates on April 1. The previous negotiations with Russia on gas supply conditions to Ukraine lasted more than five months (May-October 2014) and finished with the status quo: Ukraine regained its right to import gas from Russia at a USD 100/tcm discount, which had been in place since 2010 but was cancelled by the Kremlin in April 2014.