The peculiarities of the execution of natural gas supply contracts

Abstract

The legal basis for the functioning of the natural gas market of Ukraine, based on the principles of free competition, proper protection of consumer rights and security of natural gas supply, has been determined by the Law of Ukraine “On the Natural Gas Market” No. 329-VIII dated 04/09/2015.
 The supply of natural gas to household consumers is carried out on the basis of the standard contract. According to the content of the provisions of the Code of the Gas Transportation System and the Code of the Gas Distribution System, it is understood that, in order to supply natural gas to consumers, its supplier purchases this gas from a wholesaler at a virtual point of sale, and consumers receive it directly from the operator of gas distribution networks at the limit of the balance sheet ownership of their facilities (at destinations). In the context of updating the civil legislation of Ukraine and its harmonization with the law of the European Union, the study of the peculiarities of the execution of the gas supply contract as a type of contract for the supply of energy and the other resources through the connected network is relevant. Taking into account the specifics of the supply object, namely that natural gas is a commercial product that is a mixture of hydrocarbons and non-hydrocarbon components in a gaseous state under standard conditions, the legal nature of the supply contract has certain peculiarities. At the same time, under the contract for the supply of energy and the other resources through the connected network, one party (supplier) undertakes to provide the other party (consumer, subscriber) with energy and the other resources provided for in the contract, and the consumer (subscriber) undertakes to pay the cost of the received resources and to comply with the mode of its use stipulated by the contract, as well as to ensure safe operation of energy and the other equipment.
 The peculiarities of the execution of the contract for the supply of natural gas have been determined by the legal regime of the commercial product, which is natural gas, and the peculiarities of its supply (no other than through the gas transportation and gas distribution systems in which natural gas is received from various economic entities, as a result of which it is mixed and changes in physical chemical parameters).