Ukraine imports US LNG from Greece to meet winter needs
The Ukraine will import U.S. liquefied gas from Greece for its winter requirements from December to March of next year. This was announced by Greek and Ukrainian officials on Sunday, during the visit to Athens of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Ukraine will import natural gas through a pipeline running across the Balkan Peninsula to ensure critical supplies following Russian attacks on energy infrastructures and gas production plants.
In a joint press release, Greek gas company DEPA said that the agreement would be effective from December. Zelenskiy said that deliveries will begin in January, alongside Greek Prime Minister KyriakosMitsotakis.
Zelenskiy, a reporter, said: "We rebuild every time the Russians destroy our production. But this requires time, much work, equipment, and in the case of gas, imports to compensate for Russian destruction."
Zelenskiy, who is visiting Greece, said that Kyiv has allocated funds to cover the nearly 2 billion euro ($2.3 billion) required for gas imports, both from European banks and partners under European Commission guarantees as well as Ukrainian banks.
He added that the Ukrainian government worked with U.S.-based partners to secure full funding.
This deal follows Greece's first long-term LNG deal with Europe, starting in 2030. The EU banned Russian LNG in 2027 due to the war in Ukraine that is now in its 4th year.
Mitsotakis said that Greece is now a provider of energy security for your country. He added that the agreement would also stop Russian gas entering Europe. $1 = 0.8606 euro (Reporting from Dan Peleschuk and Angeliki Kooutantou, in Kyiv; Additional reporting from Lidia Kelly and Rene Maltezou, in Athens. Editing by William Mallard & Alexander Smith).
(source: Reuters)
