7th of August, 2020, Kyiv – In July 2020, shorthaul volumes increased by 10% (or 99 mln cub meters) compared to June and amounted to 1.1 bln cub m of gas. A significant increase in volumes was recorded from the Slovak (+20%) and Polish (5 times) directions – by 118 and 123 mln cub m of gas respectively. At the same time, the demand of traders on the Hungarian route is declining for the second month in a row.
In total, for 7 months of 2020, the Gas TSO of Ukraine transported 2.9 bln cub m in shorthaul mode: from Slovakia – 1.4 bln cub m, from Hungary – 1.1 bln cub m, from Poland – 0.3 bln cub m.
During January-July, a dynamic monthly growth in demand for the shorthaul service was recorded, during this time 15 non-resident customers and 2 Ukrainian companies have been using it.
| Entry country of short-haul, mln cub m |
January | February | March | April | May | June | July | Total |
| Slovakia | 0 | 8,7 | 20,9 | 39,3 | 6,8 | 620,9 | 738,9 | 1435,6 |
| Poland | 0 | 0,002 | 8,9 | 53,6 | 88,6 | 32,5 | 155,4 | 339,1 |
| Hungary | 0 | 5,9 | 25,6 | 169,0 | 374,7 | 337,6 | 195,6 | 1108,4 |
| Total | 0 | 14,6 | 55,4 | 261,9 | 470,1 | 991,0 | 1090,0 | 2883,1 |
Almost all shorthaul volumes were transferred by traders to underground gas storages to be stored in the “customs warehouse” mode. In total, starting from the beginning of the year, GTSOU, in accordance with customers’ bookings, sent 5.4 bln cub m of gas to the UGS Operator for storage in the “customs warehouse” (including short-haul volumes).
Also, during 7 months of the year 2020, test transit operations were carried out in the short-haul mode on the routes Slovakia-Hungary, Slovakia-Poland and Hungary-Slovakia, as well as, from the customs warehouse to Slovakia, Poland and Hungary.
“I congratulate our Slovak colleagues with the strong increase in transportation volumes over the last two months across the Ukrainian-Slovak border. Since the beginning of the year, due to the high demand for shorthaul service, the Slovak Gas TSO has increased gas transportation to Ukraine by additional 34%. It is a pity that our Slovak colleagues do not yet see the benefits of introducing a single virtual interconnection point (VIP), as this would increase the overall benefit for both countries, Gas TSOs and market participants,” said Sergiy Makogon, General Director of GTSOU.
For a note, the short-haul service, introduced by the LLC Gas TSO of Ukraine on January 1, 2020, allows the company’s customers to book gas transmission between Eastern European countries through Ukraine at a favorable tariff rate. Additionally, together with service “customs warehouse” offered by the UGS Operator (JSC “Ukrtransgaz”), foreign and domestic clients receive convenient and attractive conditions for the gas storage in Ukrainian underground storage facilities.