Investment banker Serhiy Fursa has told how Ukraine will suffer when Russia launches Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and the need for transit will disappear
“Now we receive about 2bn dollars a year from gas transit. Part of this money goes to ensure transit, but it is mainly our first loss – minus $2 billion”, – he said.
A serious problem will be that stopping the gas transit to Europe will cause difficulties for the delivery of fuel to the Ukrainian consumers.
In addition, Kiev would lose out on the cost of delivering gas to consumers in Ukraine:
“There is a tariff on the cost of gas and a tariff on gas delivery. The cost of gas delivery will increase by almost three times due to the fact that there will be no overall large transit. This large transit helps to make small ‘transits’ to each individual house. And when there is no pressure in the pipes, the burden of these costs will fall on Ukrainians.”
Earlier, the head of the Austrian oil company OMV Rainer Seele said that Nord Stream 2 may start as early as 2021