In January 2026, the first gas supplies to Ukraine via the Greek route are expected. Mykhailo Honchar, president of the Center for Global Studies "Strategy XXI", expert on energy security and geopolitics, told UNN journalist which direction is the most economically viable and whether such supplies can cover the country's needs.
Details
Ukraine has several options for importing gas in liquefied form, but some of them are more expensive due to complex logistics and several operators. The expert calls the Polish LNG terminal in Świnoujście the most convenient route, which provides a short distance and minimal bureaucratic risks. In contrast, the route through Greece is more difficult to coordinate and more expensive to transport. That is why the economic attractiveness of different directions differs significantly.
The most profitable is through Poland, through the Świnoujście LNG terminal. Here the route is shorter and there is only one country along the way - Poland. And through Greece, you have to work with five operators, which complicates and makes supplies more expensive. But after the unification of tariffs, this route becomes not only technically, but also commercially possible.
Ukraine also has an alternative through the Turkish LNG terminal Marmara Ereğlisi in the Sea of Marmara, but it loses to the Greek option. All LNG cargoes arriving at the Revithoussa terminal can originate from any country - the USA, Qatar, Algeria. This makes the route flexible, although more expensive than the northern options.
We can receive liquefied gas from anywhere - from the United States, Qatar or Algeria - with whom we agree. In Greece, this gas is regasified at the Revithoussa LNG terminal and supplied through the Greek gas transmission system to the Trans-Balkan pipeline and flows in reverse to Ukraine. But in commercial terms, LNG supplies lose to purely pipeline routes, where gas flows from the EU market through Poland, Slovakia or Hungary to Ukraine. There, tariffs are lower, as there are no LNG transshipment operations from tanker to shore and regasification.
Earlier, it became known that Ukraine also received gas supplies from the United States via another sea route. Approximately 100 million cubic meters of natural gas were delivered to the mobile LNG terminal in Klaipėda, Lithuania. The volume of the batch is small.
These small volumes are used to test options for various supplies in case of severe frosts, when additional volumes will be needed. And there may be other batches, larger in volume, depending on needs, prices and availability of money for purchases."
Ukraine already has reserves in underground storage facilities and continues to use its own production, although some facilities have been damaged. And supplies through Greece can become an additional element of diversification, which increases the country's energy stability in the winter period in the conditions of Russian aggression. Similar technical tests took place earlier, when Ukrainian companies checked the possibility of transporting LNG from different countries. Now the route is actually ready for regular operation.
"A technical test was already conducted earlier, and then the LNG delivery route through Greece was checked. In December 2024, D.Trading performed an experimental delivery through the Revithoussa LNG terminal. Technically, everything works, but it was necessary to make it commercially viable. Therefore, tariff unification became a key factor. And now we can use this direction if necessary."
Ukraine continues to expand its gas import capabilities to reduce dependence on individual routes and increase system stability.
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