
Moldova and Ukraine have taken measures to increase the attractiveness of short-haul gas transportation through the Trans-Balkan corridor.
This was reported by State Secretary of the Ministry of Energy Constantin Borosan, who spoke about the active cooperation between Moldova and Ukraine to increase the physical capacity and economic attractiveness of the Trans-Balkan route for natural gas transportation in reverse mode from the South of Europe through Moldova to Ukraine's underground storages. He recalled that since the beginning of this year, the Moldovan Energy Ministry has been promoting at regional energy cooperation platforms the use of the Trans-Balkan corridor in the reverse mode in order to ensure Europe's energy security. In accordance with the decision of the energy regulatory body of Ukraine - the National Commission carrying out state regulation in the field of energy and public utilities of Ukraine, dated October 9, 2023 and the order of the Commission for Emergency Situations of Moldova dated October 4, 2023, the Trans-Balkan corridor used in reverse mode becomes even more economically attractive for European suppliers and traders. The economic attractiveness is due to the application of 100% reduction coefficients at the Moldova-Ukraine interconnection points - Grebenyky and Ananiev. The short-haul tariff is applied only in the case of natural gas transportation through Moldova to the underground storages of Ukraine along the Trans-Balkan route after the connection points Orlovka - Causeni - Grebenyky - Ananiev - Oleksiivka, while the declared volumes of natural gas at the entrance to the gas transmission network at the Causeni connection point should be equal to the declared volumes of natural gas at the exit through the Oleksiivka connection point. Constantin Borosan specified that the introduction of short-haul tariffs on the Trans-Balkan pipeline further facilitates the access of European suppliers and traders to natural gas sources in Southern Europe, where, thanks to the highly developed infrastructure (TAP and TANAP pipelines; ICGB interconnector; Turkish Stream and LNG terminals in Greece and Turkey), there are many natural gas offers in this region of Europe. "The activation of the Trans-Balkan natural gas transportation route means an increased role for Moldova as a contributor to Europe's energy security. At the same time, it represents a very strong signal sent to natural gas transmission operators along the route to further increase physical capacity on the Trans-Balkan route. // 10.10.2023 - InfoMarket.