DTEK is preparing long-term agreements on liquefied gas imports
27 February 11:49
Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK expects to announce a deal to import liquefied natural gas to Ukraine within the next two months. Bloomberg writes about this, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
DTEK, through its trading division, is negotiating with several sellers on a two-year supply contract. This was stated by DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko in an interview with IE Week in London. According to him, most of the potential partners are located in the United States.
He also said that agreements for 10-20 years are being discussed with suppliers, including manufacturers from the Middle East. Timchenko refused to name the counterparties, noting that some negotiations are still at the initial stage.
“We want to build a medium- and long-term business. We want Ukraine to be a gas supplier with gas storage facilities,” said Maxim Timchenko.
According to him, DTEK is focused on importing one cargo per month, which would be a “success” for a newcomer to the market.
Bloomberg recalls that last year DTEK signed a preliminary agreement with Virginia-based Venture Global LNG Inc. for supplies from its Louisiana plant.
The first LNG delivery to Ukraine has already taken place
In December, DTEK’s trading unit D.Trading delivered the first cargo of liquefied natural gas from the US to Ukraine via an import terminal in Greece.
To avoid high transportation costs, D.Trading does not physically bring LNG to Ukraine, which has no import terminal. It will use terminals in Europe to deliver LNG and sell it to partners in Greece, Bulgaria, or Hungary. The firm will then use swaps to physically pump gas into Ukraine from the European gas system.
“If you have positions in warehouses in Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Ukraine, you can make such exchanges,” D.Trading CEO Dmytro Sakharuk said in an interview. “We have consumers in Ukraine, we have consumers in Europe that we can serve.”
According to Maxim Timchenko, this flexibility is key. DTEK is considering using terminals in Poland, Lithuania, Croatia and Germany.
The company also intends to switch to medium- and long-term contracts, as experts expect the LNG market to grow by 60% by 2040 due to increased demand from Asian countries.
