Ukrtransgaz failed to lawsuit 192 mcm of gas from GTSOU

Ukrtransgaz JSC (UTG) in August 2022 appealed to the Commercial Court of the city of Kyiv with a lawsuit against GTS Operator of Ukraine LLC (GTSOU) regarding GTSOU's obligation to bring the operational balance sheet (OBS) into compliance with the terms of the cooperation agreement of March 18, 2021, by transferring 112.4 mcm of gas worth UAH 3.3 billion to underground gas storage facilities of UTG. Later, the plaintiff increased the requirements to 191.3 mcm.

The claims are based on the fact that GTSOU, in violation of the contract, did not fulfill its obligations to bring OBS into compliance with the limit of ±15 mcm and transferred 191.3 mcm less natural gas to gas storage facilities than it was received from customers of transportation services.

OBS is a non-monetary account that displays the technologically determined difference between the volumes of gas nominated by customers of transportation services and customers of natural gas storage services at the virtual point of entry or exit to or from the gas transportation system, from or to gas storage facilities agreed by UTG and GTSOU, and actual physical volumes of gas transfer or reception between the parties at the physical points of entry or exit to or from the gas transportation system, from or to gas storage facilities.

The parties set the value of the limit of the accumulated OBS in the amount of ±15 mcm. The court found that neither the terms of the contract concluded between the parties nor the prescriptions of the current legislation of Ukraine establish the obligation of the defendant (GTSOU) to transfer the necessary amount of gas to the gas storages to restore the level of the accumulated OBS in case of exceeding its limit. The agreement states that both parties must make every effort to restore the established value of OBS.

Thus, the court refused UTG to satisfy the lawsuit regarding the collection of 191.3 mcm of natural gas from GTSOU.