Operator says Ukraine gas interconnector is still operational after Russian attack

The Ukrainian gas transmission operator reported that the interconnector Orlovka in southern Ukraine, which was attacked on Wednesday by Russian drones, continued to supply gas on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian officials claimed that Russia had hit a gas station in the southern Odesa region of Ukraine used to import LNG imported from Azerbaijan and the U.S., which undermined winter preparations.

An official of the operator said on Thursday that deliveries are being made the same way as before.

On Thursday, the operator announced that 0.42 million cubic meters of gas would be pumped into Orlovka near the Romanian border.

Orlovka is part of the route that connects Greek LNG terminals to Ukrainian gas storage facilities through the Transbalkan Gas Pipeline.

Kyiv called the route 'extremely important', as it allows access to LNG from Greek terminals and Turkish pipeline gas, Azerbaijani, and Romanian pipeline gases, and potentially Bulgarian offshore gas.

Ukraine announced last month that it would significantly increase its gas imports of Azerbaijani SOCAR. (Reporting and editing by Jan Harvey; Reporting by Pavel Polityuk)

(source: Reuters)