EU funds for Ukrainian pipeline
Ukrtransgaz, the Ukrainian pipeline operator, has secured a 150 million euro loan from the European Investment Bank to upgrade a 120 km section of its transnational gas pipeline including two compressor stations to Europe. Similarly the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is expected to lend the Ukraine 163 million euros for this purpose later this month.
The section, known as Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod, is defective, giving rise to increasing gas emissions and reducing the pipeline's efficiency.
In reference to the impending rehabilitation Ukrainian Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said "I hope that the Ukraine will not be bypassed by South Stream. South Stream is an unnecessary political project of Russia, and the Ukraine once again calls on all European and U.S. partners to invest in the Ukrainian gas system."