Ukraine-based Ukrtransgaz and the France-based Powernext aim to cooperate in the field of spot and futures exchange markets for gas trading in Ukraine. Ukrtransgaz’s press service said this with reference to the signed memorandum. “Ukrtransgaz sees this as another important step towards integration with gas transportation operators of Europe, as well as further development of Ukraine’s gas market,” company report said.
According to the press service, Powernext is the provider of the pan-European gas-trading platform PEGAS, which allows market players to sell natural gas in 12 hubs in 9 different countries. Nowadays, it is Europe’s most important trading platform for natural gas sales. After entering beginning cooperation with the Central European Gas Hub (CEGH) in 2016 and integrating the Czech gas pipeline into the PEGAS platform in December 2017, Powernext started to integrate into Eastern Europe.
Ukrtransgaz points out that the most significant obstacle to Ukraine’s development of exchange trade is a shortage of modern information systems and clearing mechanisms designed for the execution of transactions concluded on the exchange and for the minimization of counterparty risks. Nonetheless, Ukraine needs to apply market mechanisms in order to introduce the daily balancing regime and further gas exchange trade development.
PEGAS is a pan-European gas trading platform, owned by EEX Group and operated by Powernext. It provides its members with access to all goods on a single platform and allows them to trade in natural gas agreements in the markets of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom.
