ТРАНСПОРТНО-ГЕОГРАФІЧНЕ ПОЛОЖЕННЯ ЯК ЧИННИК ФОРМУВАННЯ СХІДНОЄВРОПЕЙСЬКОГО ГАЗОВОГО ХАБУ

Abstract

The Eastern European gas hub is one of the largest energy projects that can liberalize the natural gas market, integrate the Ukrainian gas transportation system into a European gas pipeline system and ensure the profitability of the country’s underground gas storage facilities. The article considers the geographical position as an important factor in the formation of the East European gas hub. There are analysed the basic parameters of functioning of gas storages in the article. There is also considered the European experience of functioning of gas hubs in the paper. The analysis of functioning of gas hubs of Germany and their connection with gas storage of the country is discovered. In the case of Ukraine, the gas storages of the Western region provides extraordinary manoeuvrability of gas flows, optimization of the operating modes of the energy sector, as well as the creation of necessary operational and strategic gas reserves, which is important in the context of market relations. All these preconditions can serve as a powerful base for the creation of a European-style gas hub in Ukraine. The development of the gas sector in Ukraine has a priority in the context of the implementation of Ukraine’s European integration plans in the economic sphere and is determined not only by the geographical location but also by the technological integration of the gas transportation infrastructure in the Middle East European economic area over the past decades. The entry of the Ukrainian natural gas market into the European gas market system will contribute to: enhancement of Ukraine’s energy security; improving the quality and level of relations between Ukraine and the EU countries in cooperation on the gas markets of Central and Eastern Europe; creating a favourable investment climate for the further development of the gas transmission system. Taking into account the European experience, it can be argued that gas storages of Western part of Ukraine, from the transport and logistics point of view, create a powerful base for the formation and further operation of the East European gas hub.