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Launch of OPAL at full capacity won't eliminate risks of Ukrainian gas transit — Gazprom

The head of Gazprom said that in order to ensure a reliable transit of gas to Europe this winter, Ukraine should inject another 3.2 billion cubic meters of gas into underground gas storage facilities

MOSCOW, August 21. /TASS/. The launch of Opal, the eastern offshoot of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, at full capacity won’t eliminate the risks of Ukrainian gas transit, head of Russian gas giant Gazprom Alexei Miller told TASS.

"The launch of the Opal gas pipeline at full capacity won’t eliminate the risk of Ukrainian transit. It can slightly facilitate the situation but won’t solve the issue," Miller said.

The head of Gazprom said that in order to ensure a reliable transit of gas to Europe this winter, Ukraine should inject another 3.2 billion cubic meters of gas into underground gas storage facilities.

In April, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia once again began negotiations on the status of the Opal pipeline.

In autumn 2014, the European Commission stopped the procedure for withdrawal of the OPAL from the application of the Third Energy Package.

Earlier Gazprom said the company would claim control over 100% of Opal capacities.