By KYIV. Nov 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Gas producing companies, based on the results of their activities in January-August 2023, paid almost UAH 40 billion in royalties, said head of the Association of Gas Producers of Ukraine Artem Petrenko.
“Last year, due to the fairly high price of gas, more than UAH 70 billion of royalty were paid. Over the last eight months of this year, almost UAH 40 billion were paid. This means that companies continue to work,” he said during the conference ”Ten years of EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) in Ukraine: achievements and prospects.”
At the same time, Petrenko emphasized that more than UAH 2 billion was sent to local budgets, and this, in his opinion, is extremely important “so that people locally see the effect of production.”
At the same time, the head of the association predicts an increase in production in the near future.
“Last year we observed a decline in production rates by both state and private companies, but, very importantly, Ukraine was able to maintain its own gas production, and now we see a trend towards stopping the decline,” Petrenko described the situation.
According to him, state-owned companies, primarily Ukrgazvydobuvannia, have begun to increase production, and starting next year, “we see prospects for private companies to increase production.”
He recalled that based on the results of 2021, private gas production companies set an absolute record for production – more than 5 billion cubic meters of gas.
Petrenko is convinced that all existing gas production projects under the conditions of their implementation are a unique chance for Ukraine to fully ensure its energy independence and energy security.
“And this is a prospect for selling gas both in Ukraine and abroad, in particular in the EU, which is interested in completely diversifying the supply of the resource and abandoning Russian gas,” said the industry representative.
