Ukraine: EU needs no new pipelines; no dispute with Gazprom expected

Ukraine is a reliable gas-trasit state, more gas pipeline capacity to Europe is not needed, says Naftogaz

By Derek Brower Ukraine's gas-pipeline system is big enough to handle European demand, making multi-billion-dollar plans for new infrastructure redundant, the deputy chief of Naftogaz told WGC News in an interview yesterday. Vadym Chuprun said falling gas demand in Europe means Ukraine's pipeline system now has 80bn cubic metres a year of spare capacity – surpassing the capacities of proposed pipelines, such as the Gazprom-sponsored Nord Stream and the EU-backed Nabucco, which are designed to bypass Ukraine. Another official at Naftogaz, Ukraine's state-owned energy company, dismissed as a "lie" any notion that Ukraine's pipeline system is unreliable. In January, gas exports through Ukraine