The Ukrainian economy will lose $5-6 billion a year if Nord Stream-2 is launched, said Serhiy Makogon, head of the Ukrainian GTS Operator.
“I estimate the direct and indirect losses of Ukraine from the launch of Nord Stream 2 at $5-6 billion a year”, – Makogon said in an interview with Exploration & Production Consulting.
According to him, Ukraine will also lose $1.5 billion if Russia stops gas transit. In this case, gas in Ukraine will rise in price, since its transportation from the EU will be more expensive by about $ 50 per cubic meter. This will lead to economic losses of another $2-3 billion.
“If the price of gas rises, then all our exports, such as fertilizers, will rise in price. Gas will also rise in price for the population, and accordingly more will be needed for subsidies”, – he said.
Makogon said that these losses can be compensated by increasing its own production of blue fuel. He said that now it is necessary to provide maximum opportunities for Ukrainian gas producing companies and stimulate an increase in their own production.
Nord Stream-2 envisages the construction of two strings of a gas pipeline with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year from the Russian coast through the Baltic Sea to Germany. The project is actively opposed by the United States, which is promoting its liquefied natural gas to the EU, as well as Ukraine and a number of European countries. The states imposed sanctions on the gas pipeline in December 2019, as a result of which the Swiss Allseas was forced to stop laying. It continued a year later – in December 2020, by the forces of the Russian pipe-laying vessel Fortuna, and on April 27, Akademik Chersky joined it.