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Gazprom’s pipeline projects to reduce Ukraine’s transit role to zero - Kupriyanov

The president instructed Gazprom to design South Stream with a view to the maximum throughout

MOSCOW, February 23 (Itar-Tass) —— After the implementation of all of Gazprom’s new pipeline projects Ukraine’s role as a transiter of Russian gas will be reduced to nothing, Gazprom’s spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told the media on Wednesday.

“After the implementation of all of Gazprom’s outstanding projects – South Stream with its maximum throughput, and Nord Stream with all of its extra lines, including the already available transport facilities in Belarus and the Black Sea, Ukraine’s transit role for the export of Russian gas will be equal to zero,” Kupriyanov said.

Gazprom’s CEO Alexei Miller told President Medvedev on Wednesday that Ukraine this month siphoned off part of Russian gas addressed to European consumers.

“The European consumers increased requests for Russian gas supplies and Gazprom did its best, but large amounts of gas never reached Europe,” Miller said. He added that “on some days Ukraine was taking away up to 40 million cubic meters of gas.”

The president instructed Gazprom to design South Stream with a view to the maximum throughout. Miller said the pipeline’s capacity would reach 63 billion cubic meters of gas.

Medvedev explained that the maximum throughput would be crucial to avoiding the standard situations in which Ukraine may take the liberty to tap transit pipelines without permission.