Standart News: Ukraine says it will 'remove need' for South Stream pipeline

Ukraine's parliament agreed on June 19 to discuss a bill to allow gas transit facilities to be leased on a joint venture basis with participation from firms in the European Union or United States, Euractiv reports. Ukraine would hold 51% and foreign partners would be offered 49% in the venture, which would manage both transit pipelines and underground gas storage facilities.

Suffering a third cut-off of natural gas supplies from Russia in under nine years, and with political relations in crisis, Ukraine is desperate to become less dependent on Russian gas, but at the same time to provide more reliable transit for the Russian gas that Europe needs. The government said the joint venture would bring in investment and remove the need for the South Stream pipeline, which Russia's Gazprom is building to take gas to southeastern Europe across the Black Sea, avoiding Ukraine.

It would also aim to boost Ukraine's capacity to receive "reverse flows" of Russian gas reimported back from EU countries. "If Europeans join this company, Russia will not build South Stream," Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk told parliament. No date was set for discussion of the bill. South Stream has fallen foul of EU competition authorities, who object to the fact that it will not be open to other gas producers.
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