Fitch: Nord Stream to deprive gas operators of the Ukraine and Slovakia of 20% revenue from transit
Fitch expects the launch of the 1st branch of the gas pipeline Nord Stream to lead to the fall of the transit revenue of the gas operators in the Ukraine and Slovakia – Naftogas and Slovensky Plynarensky Priemysel (SPP) – by 20% in 2012, the agency reports.
The filling of the Nord Stream pipeline with process gas started on Tuesday at the compressor station “Portovaya”.
At the present time the Russian gas is shipped to the Western Europe by 2 routes – via the territory of Belarus and then Poland and also via the Ukraine and then Slovakia, 2/3 of the supplies are done by the 2nd route. With the launch of the 1st branch of Nord Stream gas from Russia will be shipped to Germany and other West European countries directly, that according to Fitch, will lead to the transit fall via the Ukraine and Slovakia. This fact will negatively reflect on the financial results of Naftogas and SPP.
According to the agency, the putting into operation of the alternative route of the Russian gas supplies strengthens the position of Gazprom in the dispute with Naftogas regarding the conditions of the current gas contracts. So Fitch doesn’t exclude the possible problems with the transit of the Russian gas via the Ukraine, as in 2006 and 2009, in connection with the existing disputes.
In general Fitch thinks that the launch of the Nord Stream positively reflects on the reliability of gas supplies to Europe, though there will still be a serious dependence on Gazprom as the only supplier. Nevertheless, according to the agency, as a result the final consumers will face the tariffs’ growth for pumping and gas distribution due the launch of the Nord Stream, as the companies-owners of the gas pipeline need to pay back their expenditure on the project, that is estimates by Fitch at €7.4 bln. The independent gas suppliers are likely to make profit due to the rise of the nominal capacities for pumping.
Nord Stream is a new route for the export of the Russian gas to Europe. The gas pipeline with 1.22 thousand km length goes via the bottom of the Baltic Sea from Russia (Vyborg) to Germany (Greifswald). The launch of the 1st stage pf the gas pipeline with the throughput capacity of 27.5 bln cubic meters of gas is planned for October 2011. The completion of the construction of the 2nd branch in the autumn 2012 will allow to increase the throughput capacity of Nord Stream up to 55 bln cubic meters of gas a year. Gazprom has already signed the long-term contracts for gas supply via the Nord Stream to the customers in several EU countries, including Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Great Britain.
In July the Prime minister of Russia V. Putin said that Russia doesn’t exclude the possibility of construction of the 3rd line of Nord Stream.
At the present time the shareholders of Nord Stream are Gazprom, the German Wintershall Holding and E.ON Ruhrgas, the French GDF Suez and Gasunie from the Netherlands. The stakes of the shareholders in the company-operator Nord Stream AG are the follwing: Gazprom – 51%, Wintershall Holding and E.ON Ruhrgas – 15.5% each, Gasunie and GDF Suez - 9% each.
http://www.oilru.com/news/276481/
Translated by Galiya Musabekova
