Russian technical oil

friendship of Peoples
On Friday, the supervisory board of OJSC Ukrtransnafta accepted the proposal of the oil company TNK-BP to supply technological oil to fill the Odessa-Brody pipeline. However, the strategic decision to mothball most of this route in Ukraine has many high-ranking opponents.
LLC "Trading House 'TNK-Ukraine'" (a subsidiary of TNK-BP) at the beginning of September made an offer to Ukrtransnafta, which is in charge of the main oil pipelines of Ukraine, to supply up to 450 thousand tons of process oil on terms of trade credit for the start of operation Odessa-Brody pipeline. Last Thursday, TNK-BP announced that its offer was valid only until October 8 (see Kommersant of October 3). The ultimatum made an impression: on Friday a meeting of the supervisory board of Ukrtransnafta was held in Kyiv, which agreed with a slight majority of votes to TNK-BP's proposal. According to Kommersant's information, four council members voted for him, three voted against him, one abstained, and two more were not present at the meeting.
The agreement to fill the Odessa-Brody pipeline with Russian oil means that the Ukrainian government has decided to mothball most of this oil pipeline. Only a small section of it from Odessa to Augustovka will be used to pump oil in the reverse direction; Russian oil will be transported along it to the Black Sea port of Yuzhny near Odessa, and from there it will be delivered in tankers to Mediterranean markets.
The idea of Russian oil workers was supported by Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, who said that if it is not possible to find oil suppliers to Europe, it is better to run the idle oil pipeline in the reverse direction. Nevertheless, there are also plenty of opponents of this option of using the pipeline in Ukraine. Thus, the Minister of Fuel and Energy of Ukraine Sergei Ermilov, after the TNK-BP ultimatum, said that there is another proposal “from one of the foreign companies, which, in the event of TNK-BP refusing to cooperate with Ukrtransnafta, is ready to offer its resources.” Mr. Ermilov, most likely, had in mind the Kazakh Kazmunaigas, which recently confirmed in writing “further interest in the issues of mutually beneficial use of Ukraine’s oil and gas transport infrastructure for transporting oil from Kazakhstan to Ukraine and its transit to European markets.”
Among the opponents of the reverse use of the pipeline is Prime Minister of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, who instructed the supervisory board of Ukrtransnafta to reinstate Alexander Todiychuk, chairman of the company’s board of directors, who was fired on the eve of the board meeting. The reason for his resignation was his negative attitude towards proposals for the reverse use of the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline. The company's supervisory board did not fulfill the prime minister's instructions.
Thus, two groups of pipeline lobbyists were finally formed in Kyiv. The first, relying on the support of the state company Naftogaz of Ukraine, is lobbying for the reverse direction of oil pumping. The second, supported by the office of the Prime Minister of Ukraine, insists on maintaining the original scheme for using the pipeline. This group will certainly take retaliatory action and declare the decision of the supervisory board of Ukrtransnafta invalid.
KIRILL Kommersant-RAZUMOVSKY, Kyiv; DENIS Kommersant-SKOROBOGATKO

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 181/P dated 10/06/2003, p. 15

Themes:

Activities of TNK-BP

TNK-BP will fill the Ukrainian oil pipeline