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Gazprom books extra transit capacity in Ukraine due to seasonal factor, experts say

Naftogaz of Ukraine informed on September 21 that Gazprom booked extra capacity for gas transit over Ukraine in October, without detailing the capacity requested

MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS/. The demand of the Russian gas holding Gazprom for further capacity for gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine in October is due to the seasonal factor, analysts questioned by TASS say.

Naftogaz of Ukraine informed on September 21 that Gazprom booked extra capacity for gas transit over Ukraine in October, without detailing the capacity requested.

"I believe this is related to an increase in requests from clients because of the heating season’s start. Nevertheless, this refers most probably to small volumes for specific destinations," Deputy Head of the National Energy Security Fund Alexei Grivach says in a comment.

There have been no signs of a significant gas demand growth in Europe so far and the demand in October is most likely to grow because of the seasonal factor, Dmitry Marinchenko from Fitch said. The Ukrainian route remains a balancing one for Gazprom, the analyst noted. "It will pump extra volumes through Ukraine in case of growing demand, especially if the Nord Stream 2 is not launched shortly, and vice versa," the expert added.

"Storages have been filled up. Therefore, I would not say high volumes will be procured. Nevertheless, winter is expected to be cold and gas consumption will grow," Alexei Kalachev from Finam said.

At the turn of 2019, Russia and Ukraine negotiated Russian gas transit over the territory of Ukraine from 2020 to 2024 with an option of renewal for ten more years.