Four months ago, Naftogaz of Ukraine held its first meeting with representatives of private production companies. The parties agreed on a roadmap and made commitments.
"These commitments were based, among other things, on trust. And today I can say that this trust has been justified," Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov wrote on Facebook.
He added that during this period, thanks to mutual cooperation, they managed to fill underground storage facilities with record volumes of gas, so the country is confidently entering the heating season.
"We have launched the gas market - the Ukrainian Energy Exchange is fully operational. The rules of the game in the market have become transparent and equal," Chernyshov said.
According to him, Naftogaz of Ukraine has purchased more than 700mn cu.m. of gas from private producers for more than 9bn hryvnas. This allowed private businesses to remain liquid and continue to invest in hydrocarbon production.
"All these steps have created the necessary buffer of trust between the state and business. The state is a partner whose task is to create equal opportunities for all. Business is the economic backbone of the state," he summarised.
Artem Petrenko, Executive Director of the Association of Gas Producers of Ukraine, said that Naftogaz's purchase of gas from private producers allowed them to invest in new drilling.