JSC Ukrtransgaz has created a new branch – Operator of Ukrainian Gas Storage Facilities, which will be responsible for the provision of gas storage services and operation of underground gas storage facilities.
The company said in a press release that the branch would consolidate all assets, processes and employees required for the provision of gas storage services. It is planned that the branch will start operating at a full capacity from January 1, 2019. The branch will function as a structural unit of Ukrtransgaz, without establishing a separate legal entity.
Ukrtransgaz is conducting preparatory work on the legal and organizational design of the operation of the branch, the redistribution of production and business processes, an inventory of existing assets and the transfer to the new branch of more than 1,700 specialists who support the operation of Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities.
“The creation of the operator is a consistent step towards the qualitative completion of the unbundling process, as a result of which the operator of Ukraine’s GTS [gas transmission system] will be finally separated from Ukrtransgaz after the current transit contract with Gazprom terminates,” Ukrtransgaz President Andriy Khomenko said.
Ukrtransgaz, a wholly owned subsidiary of Naftogaz Ukrainy, operates Ukraine’s gas transmission system and 12 underground gas storage facilities with 31 billion cubic meters of capacity.
