OREANDA-NEWS. NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine reiterates its invitation to all gas shippers that wish to import gas to Ukraine from the west to use the free gas transmission capacities at the country's border with the EU. Moreover, Naftogaz is ready to discuss conditions under which its booked capacities could be used by other shippers to bring gas from the EU to the borders of Ukraine.

"Naftogaz acts as a guaranteed supplier of gas to Ukrainian consumers, and our foremost concern is therefore to ensure that there is enough gas in the country to balance the internal demand up until the end of the next heating season", said Andriy Kobolyev, CEO of Naftogaz.

"However, this role of Naftogaz does not imply that we must be the only importer of gas to Ukraine. On the contrary, we are encouraging private shippers to use available transmission capacity to bring more gas from the EU for their clients. We invite all interested parties to contact us", added Kobolyev.

Since the beginning of the year, 99% of imported gas was shipped to Ukraine by Naftogaz. In the same time, the share of Naftogaz in gas sales to industrial consumers that pay full market price is less than 30%. Naftogaz deems reasonable that private traders that hold the remaining share of this market, would accumulate gas reserves in the underground gas storages during the summer period in order to meet the demand of their customers in winter.