Eru makes first gas shipment to Ukraine from Greece

Ukrainian firm Eru Trading has made the first shipment of gas to Ukraine from Greece.

Only a small volume was delivered as a test shipment, "in co-ordination with European partners", Eru said.

The gas was purchased in Greece, and transported to Ukraine through the Greek, Bulgarian and Romanian transport systems.

Physical deliveries along the route were broadly unchanged in recent days. But 24MW was nominated towards Ukraine from Romania at Isaccea I on 21 August. Nominations in that direction were zero in the previous and following days.

Nominations towards Romania from Bulgaria at Negru Voda I — the continuation of Isaccea I along the Trans-Balkan pipeline (TBP) — climbed by about 24MWh on 21 August from a day earlier, and rose even further in the following days. Nominations in the same direction at Ruse-Giurgiu also rose on 21-22 August from the preceding and following days.

And while nominations towards Bulgaria from Greece varied from day to day, 124MWh of bundled firm capacity was booked at the auction for day-ahead capacity towards Bulgartia at Kulata for 21 August delivery.

Eru plans to sell the supply in the Ukrainian domestic market rather than re-exporting it to Europe, the firm said.

The main goal of this first delivery was to open up the possibility of accessing Greece's 3.6mn t/yr Revithoussa LNG terminal, Eru said. The firm will use this route on a regular basis if it makes economic sense, Eru said today.

This delivery has opened up a new gas transmission corridor between Greece, Romania and Ukraine, providing an opportunity to become part of the European Commission's Three Seas Initiative, Yaroslav Mudryy, managing partner at Eru, said. Eru previously said it is interested in trading in the Balkan markets.

The Three Seas Initiative aims to stimulate development of the region stretching between the Baltic, Black and Adriatic Seas. This is to be achieved through high-level commitment to boosting connectivity among member states, with a particular focus on infrastructure, energy and digital interconnectivity.

This new direction for Ukrainian imports could provide the country with increased access to LNG deliveries and pipeline gas from the Caspian. The TBP was previously used exclusively by Russian state-controlled Gazprom to deliver to southeastern and eastern European markets, but flows have fallen sharply following the commissioning of Turkish Stream at the start of the year.

Eru Trading was the first firm other than Gazprom to ship gas to Romania from Ukraine, with the shipment made in July.

The firm also received a regasified LNG cargo for shipment to Ukraine from Poland's 3.9mn t/yr Swinoujscie terminal in November, Ukraine's first LNG import.

By Victoria Dovgal