Ukraine sees no sign of bigger Russian gas supply to Europe

Ukraine's state-run gas transmission system operator said on Wednesday there was no sign that Russian energy giant Gazprom planned to exports additional gas to the Europe Union next year, based on the results of pipeline capacity auctions.

Ukraine's state-run gas transmission system operator said on Wednesday there was no sign that Russian energy giant Gazprom planned to exports additional gas to the Europe Union next year, based on the results of pipeline capacity auctions. Kyiv accuses Moscow of using energy as a weapon against Europe. Moscow denies this and has repeatedly said it was fulfilling its gas contract obligations.

"According to the results of ... auctions, Gazprom does not plan to increase gas supplies to the EU in December or in the first quarter of 2022," the operator's head Sergiy Makogon said on Facebook. He said the maximum volume of Russian transit to Europe would total 109 million cubic metres a day, in line with the current gas transit agreement between Ukraine and Russia.

Earlier this week Gazprom booked no additional gas transit capacity via Ukraine for December, based on auction results. "All loud statements about the increase in supplies to the EU are not yet reflected in the real actions of Gazprom," Makogon said.

Germany's energy regulator has suspended the approval process for a major new Nord Stream 2 pipeline bringing Russian gas into Europe, throwing up a new roadblock to the contentious project and driving up regional gas prices.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)