7 July 2008
The company’s CEO Oleksiy Ivchenko said that Naftogaz had concluded contracts on gas deliveries to Ukraine with independent suppliers at reasonable prices. Neither the names of suppliers nor prices were disclosed. Ivchenko only noted that the gas will be supplied from Central Asian counties, such as Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan. Concorde Capital: The most likely source of additional gas for Ukraine is Turkmenistan and the undisclosed supplier is likely Itera, which used to deliver gas to Ukraine several years ago. However, Ukraine does not border with any of the Central Asian countries, and all gas has to be transported through Russia?s territory, which leaves Gazprom with a transit tariff leverage. It is not clear how the issue of gas supplies will be solved in the future given disagreements between Gazprom and Naftogaz. Nevertheless, the news is positive for the entire Ukrainian economy.