History

History of LLC Gas TSO of Ukraine:

Limited Liability Company Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (hereinafter – LLC Gas TSO of Ukraine) – Ukrainian monopolist, which delivers natural gas to domestic consumers and transports transit volumes of natural gas across Ukraine to Western and Central Europe.

February 4, 2019 – LLC Gas TSO of Ukraine was established to meet the requirements on unbundling of natural gas transportation activities defined by the Law “On Natural Gas Market”, in line with Ukraine’s international obligations under the Energy Community Treaty and the Association Agreement with the EU. The foundation for the establishment of LLC Gas TSO of Ukraine was enlarged and substantially optimized Branch “Gas TSO of Ukraine” the division of JSC Ukrtransgaz, that accumulated assets and personnel responsible for the transportation of natural gas.

June 2019 – personnel of the Branch “Gas TSO of Ukraine” the division of JSC Ukrtransgaz, responsible for natural gas transportation, was transferred to LLC Gas TSO of Ukraine and under the Service Level Agreement concluded between LLC Gas TSO of Ukraine and JSC Ukrtransgaz, LLC Gas TSO of Ukraine provided services covering all types of operation, maintenance and repair works to ensure safe and efficient operation of the main GTS facilities.

December 17, 2019 – positive conclusion on the certification of LLC Gas TSO of Ukraine as the gas transmission system operator was obtained from the EU Energy Community Secretariat (Conclusion No. 4/19 of 12/17/19).

December 24, 2019 – pursuant to Art. 24 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Natural Gas Market”, the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities (hereinafter – NEURC) adopted a final decision supporting certification of LLC Gas TSO of Ukraine according to the ISO model, and also issued the license for the right to carry out activities for the transmission of natural gas allowing the company to perform its functions starting with January 1, 2020 (Resolution of 24.12.2019 No.3011).

January 1, 2020 – LLC Gas TSO of Ukraine was fully separated from Naftogaz Group and 100% stake in the authorized capital was transferred to the state-owned company JSC Mahistralni Gazoprovody Ukrainy (MGU). JSC MGU owns 100% of the shares of LLC Gas TSO of Ukraine.

October 27, 2023 – As part of the corporate reform’s implementation, 100% of the GTSOU’s equity stake was transferred to the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine.

A Brief History of Natural Gas Transmission System of Ukraine:

The Gas Transmission System (GTS) of Ukraine is a complex facility and an important part of the former Unified Gas Supply System of the Soviet Union (EGP USSR) within the historical context.

It was the beginning of the twentieth century, when natural gas was first discovered in Western Ukraine.

In 1924, the first gas pipeline on Ukrainian soil was constructed from the village Dashava to the town of Stryi. That year is generally regarded as the year of the foundation of the gas industry of Ukraine.

In 1948, the Dashava–Kyiv gas pipeline was launched. That year the gas transportation system of Ukraine is considered to be founded. Back then, Dashava-Kyiv was the most powerful gas pipeline in Europe, with a capacity of about 2 billion cubic meters/year.

In 1951, Dashava-Kyiv was extended to Moscow, so the Dashava-Kyiv-Briansk-Moscow gas pipeline supplied natural gas from the gas fields in Western Ukraine to Kyiv and Moscow.

In 1956, the Shebelynka-Kharkiv gas pipeline was put in operation in order to ensure the supply of natural gas from Shebelynska gas condensate field.

In 1957, the construction of the Shebelynka-Dnepropetrovsk-Odessa gas pipeline began, with pipeline branches to Zaporizhia (1958), Mykolaiv and Kherson (1963). In 1960, the construction of the Shebelynka-Bryansk gas pipeline was completed, delivering natural gas to Russian consumers.

In 1960-70s, the active phase of the development of the GTS of Ukraine was in progress. In 1967, after the commissioning of the Dolyna-Uzhhorod- Zakhidnyi Kordon gas pipeline (Bratstvo or Brotherhood gas pipeline), the supply of Ukrainian and Russian gas to Central and Western Europe began.

In 1970- 80s, the construction of transcontinental gas pipelines started, forming a powerful potential for the supply of Russian gas to Europe through Soiuz, Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhhorod, Progress, and others, naturally assigning to GTS of Ukraine a predominately transit role.

Soyuz, the export gas pipeline, that carries natural gas from the Orenburg gas condensate field to Central and Western Europe, was constructed between 1975-1979 together with Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia.

The Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod main gas pipeline (UPU), built in 1982-1984, connected the Urengoy gas field and gas fields in the north of Western Siberia with Uzhgorod and the end users of Central and Western Europe.

In 1986, the Progress gas pipeline (Yamburg- Zakhidnyi Kordon) was commissioned.

Moreover, a further development of the pipeline grid started in the mid-1980s, with the main purpose to supply Siberian gas to the Balkans from the gas transportation hub in Yelets, the town in Lipetsk region, where the resources were delivered to from the Yamburgske gas field. The route was commenced with the Yelets-Kremenchuk-Kryvyi Rih pipeline, which supplied gas both to the exit point of the Kremenchuk-Ananyiv gas pipeline (later extended Ananyiv-Izmail) and to the central industrial region of Ukraine, through which the second Balkan route Shebelynka-Kryvyi Rih-Izmail also was laid. The commissioning of this gas pipeline was synchronized with the construction of the other Balkan facilities mentioned above and fell on 1986.

In the following years, the GTS of Ukraine continued its development:

In 1999, the Khust-Satu Mare gas pipeline was commissioned, and in 2000  Dzhankoi-Feodosia-Kerch on the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

The system of the main gas pipelines of Ukraine is the unified technological complex that simultaneously provides transportation of natural gas to consumers of Ukraine and performs the transit function, however, the part of the GTS pipelines, involved in gas transit through Ukraine, can be divided into:

The Ukrainian GTS is the second largest in Europe. It is closely connected to the networks of neighboring European countries – Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova, and through them is integrated into the European gas network.

In 1970, the total length of gas pipelines was 11.5 thousand km. In 1980 18 thousand km, in 1990 almost 30 thousand km.