Ukraine has emerged as a storage alternative despite the risks from Russia’s invasion in part because it has offered incentives such as cheap storage tariffs and custom duty exemptions for three years, which allows gas to be easily reimported to the EU, Financial Times has reported.
The tanks in the country are largely situated deep underground in the west of the country, far from the front lines, and at present contain more than 2bn cubic metres of gas belonging to EU entities, according to Naftogaz, the state energy company.
The EU and Ukraine are also discussing the possibility of insuring the storage facilities against damage owing to the war. Naftogaz’s chief executive Oleksiy Chernyshov said any guarantees would further increase the use of Ukrainian tanks but added that he did not expect insurance to be viable in "the foreseeable future".
Naftogaz said 128 of its facilities across the country had been damaged by Russian attacks between January and October this year, though people in the industry say no underground storage has been hit.
Earlier, Ukraine's Gas Transport System Operator named four countries that could store gas in Ukraine. These are Greece, Romania, Azerbaijan and Poland.
Ukraine has pumped the planned amount of gas for the winter into the storage facilities ahead of schedule.