Ukraine reports plans to create gas hub with Poland

Ukraine and Poland are going to create a new gas hub that will meet the needs of Eastern Europe and become an alternative to Russian gas. This was reported by the Ukrainian Energy Ministry on December 18.

"Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities (UGS) and Polish gas LNG terminals can create a new business model instead of Russian gas transit," the ministry's Telegram channel quoted Ukrainian Deputy Energy Minister Mykola Kolesnik as saying.

Kolesnik also noted that the integration of gas markets on the basis of the existing infrastructure and an increase in the available interstate capacity will help replace Russian gas.

Long gas pipelines: Russia and Ukraine do not negotiate to extend transit to Europe

How the interruption of blue fuel supplies will affect the EU countries and whether they have any alternatives left

Earlier, on December 13, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fitzo said that the country was negotiating the continuation of gas supplies through the Ukrainian territory. At the same time, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said on December 16 that Kiev was not going to prolong the gas transit agreement.

The next day, the Bloomberg news agency, citing a statement by Slovak gas company SPP, reported that key Central European companies had signed a declaration supporting the continuation of gas transit through Ukraine in 2025.

Igor Yushkov, a leading analyst of the National Energy Security Fund, said that stopping the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine in January threatens a significant price hike, which would affect the whole of Europe.

Before that, on September 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the plenary session of the 9th Eastern Economic Forum (WEF-2024) in Vladivostok that Russia was not giving up gas transit through Ukraine. According to Putin, Gazprom intends to fulfill all its obligations under long-term contracts, including transit. He specified that the contract on gas supply through Ukraine ends on December 31.