National joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy has said that RGC (Regional Gas Company) is trying to divert public attention from illegal gas pumping by companies that are part of the group.
“The statements of the RGC about the nature of searches carried out by law enforcers in the office of this company allegedly ordered by Naftogaz are provocative and are designed to divert public attention from gas thefts by companies belonging to the Regional Gas Company,” the press service of Naftogaz said on July 25.
Naftogaz reminded that from August 1, 2018, the new edition of the Gas Transportation System Code, approved by the previous staff of the National Commission for Energy and Housing Utilities Services Regulation (NCER), without taking into account the proposals of Ukrtransgaz, should come into force.
“There are good reasons to believe that the creation of this code involved lawyers working for the oligarch Dmytro Firtash, the real owner of the RGC,” Naftogaz said.
Naftogaz said that the code in its current version “is designed to consolidate both the monopoly of regional gas companies in regional markets and the opportunity for them of being engaged in unauthorized gas pumping, that is, stealing gas, with impunity.”
“Naftogaz consistently advocates the early introduction of daily gas balancing in Ukraine, but based on European principles of transparency and ensuring the interests of all market participants. The introduction of daily balancing, based on the existing code of the gas transit system, created to satisfy the interests of regional gas companies, will only lead to the legalization of the schemes of gas theft and discredits the very idea of creating a transparent and efficient gas market in Ukraine,” Naftogaz said.nnThe RGC Group manages about 20 gas distributing companies throughout Ukraine.
