October 4, 2019, – LLC Gas TSO of Ukraine submitted the application on certification as gas transportation system operator to NERC on the performance of Cabinet of Ministers Resolution № 840 from September 18, 2019. It is expected that the company will be certified by the national regulator with further confirmation from the Energy Community Secretariat side by January 1, 2020.

Certification is the final stage of the project on the unbundling of Gas TSO of Ukraine (unbundling). After the certification Gas TSO of Ukraine LLC will receive functions for the performance of natural gas transportation via the territory of Ukraine and can act as an independent TSO. Successful certification of TSO is one of the critical factors in the trilateral negotiations on gas transit via Ukraine from January 1, 2020.

Certification documents have been prepared in collaboration with international consultants and experts. The application fully complies with the requirements of the Ukrainian legislation and EU energy directives and foresees the unbundling of TSP based on the ISO model (Independent System Operator).

Taking into account the very short deadlines set out in the CMU Resolution, Ukrtransgaz addressed Regulator and Energy Community Secretariat the request to perform the certification procedure in parallelly to achieve a result by January 1. In its turn, the employees of Ukrtransgaz and LLC Gas TSO of Ukraine, engaged in the process of obtaining the certification started from October 7, will be working in the 24/7 regime for the promt respond to all the requests of certified parties.

We remind that from July 1, 2019, the penultimate stage of the project on preparation to unbundling of Gas TSO of Ukraine. The function of the technical exploitation of the gas transportation system was transferred from JSC Ukrtransgaz to a separate legal entity – Gas TSO of Ukraine LLC. By the end of the current year, this company shall provide all the grounds for the further independent activity of TSO. Particularly, obtain licenses for the activity and be certified. The final stage of the unbundling will be the withdrawal of LLC Gas TSO of Ukraine from the Naftogaz Group and its transfer to the ownership and management to the state company PJSC main gas pipelines of Ukraine, which is under the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. Such decision is recorded in the CMU Resolution #840 on September 18, 2019.

In addition to certification, the NERC and a number of authorized state authorities must adopt several amendments to the regulatory legal acts that will ensure that the government-approved model and fully implement the requirements of the EU Third Energy Package into the regulatory base of Ukraine.