Over the past month, BETS held 117 trading sessions for the purchase and sale of natural gas on the medium- and long-term market, as well as four trading sessions each day on the short-term market.
A total of 304 starting positions were formed at the BETS trading platform for trading resources in December 2025, January 2026, and subsequent months, in the gas transmission system and underground gas storage facilities. A total of approximately 156 million cubic meters of natural gas was sold on the medium- and long-term market. 9.08 million cubic meters of natural gas were sold on the short-term market.
On the medium- and long-term market in December, quoted prices in the section of the same name ranged from UAH 19,140 to UAH 21,250 excluding VAT. There was a downward trend in prices throughout the month. The initiators of the auctions formed starting positions mainly for sale.
Last month, transactions were concluded in the “Cross-border” section on the terms of delivery at the border point. The total volume of these transactions amounted to 1.3 million MWh at prices ranging from €34.65 to €36.55.
On the short-term market, exchange rates fluctuated daily in the range of UAH 19,227-20,416.26 excluding VAT, with a downward trend. In addition to the intraday market, transactions were concluded on the UEB day-ahead market with a total volume of 360,000 cubic meters.
” December confirmed the consistently high demand for UEB exchange instruments. We will continue to focus on improving the efficiency of trading procedures in general and developing medium-term standardized products in particular, so that participants receive transparent prices and guaranteed execution of transactions,” said UEB CEO Alexander Kovalenko.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has maintained zero quotas for the export of natural gas of Ukrainian origin in 2026, according to Government Resolution No. 1795 of December 31 on the list of goods whose export and import are subject to licensing and quotas.
According to the document, exports of natural gas of Ukrainian origin in 2026 will continue to be subject to quotas, with the quota set at zero.
The resolution is published on the government’s website.
The vast majority of European countries in 2022-2024, before President Donald Trump returned to the US presidency in January 2025, bought much more oil and gas from Russia than they provided support to Ukraine, said US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.
“I knew that many of these countries had tied their energy fortunes to Russia, but I had no idea of the scale of this or how much (collectively) it overshadowed their aid to Ukraine,” he wrote on social media on Saturday.
Landau illustrated his post with a chart provided to him by the US State Department. He specified that he had requested this data in connection with his trip this week to a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, replacing Secretary of State Marco Rubio. After the meeting, Landau sharply criticized the EU countries.
According to the chart, only five of the 24 European countries provided Ukraine with financial assistance (grants and loans) that exceeded Russia’s payments for oil and gas: the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Switzerland. In the case of Switzerland, there are no oil and gas payments to Russia, while in the case of the Scandinavian countries, they are small – up to $1 billion, with aid to Ukraine ranging from $5 billion to $10 billion (here and below are approximate figures, as the chart does not contain exact data). Overall, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway ranked 3rd, 6th, and 8th, respectively, in terms of aid to Ukraine among the 24 countries listed.
And even in the case of the UK, which paid Russia about $3.5 billion for hydrocarbons, this is still much less than the aid provided to Ukraine, which is estimated at $15 billion — the second highest figure among the 24 countries.
Finland’s aid to Ukraine and purchases of Russian oil and gas are roughly equal, while in the case of Lithuania and Latvia, oil and gas payments to Russia already exceed aid to Ukraine, according to the US State Department’s estimates. (Estonia is not included in the chart, as are other countries whose aid or hydrocarbon imports from Russia during this period were less than $1 billion.
Germany, Ukraine’s largest European donor with approximately $17.5 billion in aid, purchased $20 billion worth of Russian oil and gas in 2022-2024. The Netherlands, which ranks fourth on the list of aid with approximately $8.5 billion, imported nearly $5 billion worth of hydrocarbons from Russia.
In France, this ratio is approximately $6 billion against more than $20 billion, in Poland $5.5 billion against $12 billion, and in Italy $3 billion against $27.5 billion: this is the 10th indicator in terms of aid to Ukraine and the 2nd in terms of imports from Russia.
The absolute record holder in this regard is Turkey, whose financial support to Ukraine is difficult to estimate even at $0.2 billion, while purchases of Russian oil and gas amount to about $32 billion.
Hungary, with even smaller amounts of aid, sent Russia about $22 billion for oil and gas, and Slovakia sent about $18 billion, although its support for Ukraine can be estimated at approximately $1.5 billion.
The Czech Republic’s financial assistance to Ukraine in 2022-2024 is about $1 billion, according to the US State Department’s estimates, which is also much less than the volume of Russian hydrocarbon purchases, which amounted to about $15 billion. Spain looks better in terms of these indicators
— $2 billion versus $12 billion — as does Bulgaria — $0.5 billion versus $9 billion.
State-owned Pakistan Petroleum Ltd. will build an island to create a launch pad for accelerating oil and gas exploration. The artificial island will be located approximately 30 kilometers off the coast of the southern province of Sindh, near the city of Sajawal, PPL’s chief executive officer for exploration and core business development, Arshad Palekar, told Bloomberg. According to him, this will prevent tidal waves from interrupting round-the-clock geological exploration work.
This project, the first of its kind for Pakistan, is based on the experience of Abu Dhabi, where artificial islands for drilling have been successfully built, Paleekar said.
Construction of the island will be completed in February, and operations will begin immediately after that, he added. The company plans to drill about 25 wells.
Drilling operations in Pakistan are gaining momentum after US President Donald Trump expressed interest in the country’s “huge oil reserves” in July. Since then, offshore exploration licenses have been issued to local companies PPL, Mari Energies Ltd. and Prime International Oil and Gas Co.
Moldova’s National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE) has introduced two new routes through its gas transmission system (GTS) for gas transit from Greece to Ukraine, the regulator said.
“These products (supply services) are designed to facilitate natural gas flows from Greece to Ukraine through the Trans-Balkan infrastructure, contributing to the strengthening of regional energy security, diversify supply sources, and make efficient use of transport capacity, in accordance with the request of Vestmoldtransgaz LLC (Moldova’s GTS operator) and a joint initiative by the natural gas transmission system operators of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine,” the ANRE said in a statement.
The regulator specified that this refers to “two new special capacity products – Route 2 and Route 3, which will be available from December 2025 to April 2026.”
The new services will be offered monthly through parallel auctions on the RBP platform using a single price algorithm, with discounts applied to the tariffs of transit country operators. “The introduction of these products will increase gas transit volumes through Moldova’s transmission system and indirectly create the conditions for optimizing natural gas transportation tariffs in the future,” the statement said.
The regulator recalled that in May this year, a monthly service product called “Route 1” was introduced, designed for use at interconnection points on the Trans-Balkan pipeline connecting the natural gas transportation systems of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine.
As reported, in May this year, gas transmission system operators in Bulgaria, Greece, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine developed a scheme for the supply of American liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Greece to Ukraine via the “Vertical Gas Corridor,” agreeing on a single tariff for gas transit with a 25% discount. The aim of the project is to ensure gas injection into Ukraine’s underground gas storage facilities in preparation for the heating season.
In July, Moldovan Energy Minister Dorin Jungiatu reported that the Moldovan state-owned company Energocom had successfully tested the delivery of LNG from the US via the Vertical Gas Corridor, pumping regasified fuel from a port in Greece to Ukraine’s underground gas storage facilities.
In early November, pipeline company ICGB, the independent operator of the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector (IGB), together with the gas transmission system operators of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine, signed an agreement to launch two new routes for the delivery of natural gas from Greece to Ukraine. The gas transmission system operators of these countries proposed to make these routes available from December 2025 to April 2026.
According to ICGB, route 2 starts at the Amphitrite interconnection point on the DESFA network, passes through the Greek-Bulgarian interconnector (IGB) and then along the Trans-Balkan corridor: Amphitrite – Komotini (IGB) – Stara Zagora – Negru Voda 1/Kardam – Isaccea 1/Orlovca – Câșcavii – Grebeni.
Route 3 starts at the IGB interconnection point with the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and follows the same route: Komotini (IGB entry from TAP) – Stara Zagora – Negru Voda 1/Cardam – Isaccea 1/Orlovca – Câșcav – Grebeni.
The design capacity of the “Vertical Gas Corridor” in the Greece-Bulgaria direction is 3 billion cubic meters per year. The gas pipeline operator does not rule out increasing its capacity to 5 billion cubic meters, depending on market interest.
The agreement with Greece on gas supplies to Ukraine is part of a large energy package prepared for the winter, and gas supplies will begin in January, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“Gas supplies will begin in January, and it is important that our first agreements will be implemented in the first quarter. In addition to the agreement on operational gas supplies, there are also urgent agreements,” Zelensky said during a press conference in Athens on Sunday.
The president noted that he discussed this today with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. In addition, he thanked the US for the opportunity to receive not only gas through Greece, but also energy from the United States.
