By KYIV. Dec 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Cabinet of Ministers has decided to impose special obligations on NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy to supply gas to thermal power plants and thermal power plants for electricity generation, Naftogaz Board Chairman Oleksiy Chernyshov has said.
"An important decision was recently made by the Cabinet of Ministers, namely: a gas PSO for electricity producers. Naftogaz will supply gas to electricity producers at a price below the market, depending on the terms of supply: UAH 11,000 and UAH 16,500 per 1,000 cubic meters," he said in an interview with Forbes.
According to the head of Naftogaz, this will allow heat producers to use gas to generate electricity without a loss.
Chernyshov said that the decision should be published soon.
At the same time, he said that, for example, the power plants of PJSC Centrenergo should, first of all, burn coal.
"According to the PSO, it may be more profitable for them to work on gas than on coal. But now gas is too valuable for the country to burn it when there is coal," the head of Naftogaz said.
He also added that Naftogaz, having credit support from the EBRD, the governments of Canada and Norway in general for $850 million, buys gas for January-February using these funds, since then additional gas will be required both in storage facilities and in the gas transmission system in case of a sharp decrease in temperature.
At the same time, according to the head of Naftogaz, these funds will allow the purchase of approximately 500 million cubic meters of gas, and by the end of the heating period Ukraine needs almost 2 billion cubic meters additionally.
