Draft Law of Ukraine

"On the Grounds for Functioning of the Natural Gas Market"

The draft suggests determining legal, economic and organizational grounds for functioning of the natural gas market and regulating relations between subjects thereof.

According to the draft, the natural gas market – is a system of agreement relations, arising during the process of purchasing and selling natural gas, providing services on its extraction, transportation, storage, distribution and supply.

Natural gas is the goods, which is purchased and sold.

State regulation of activity of subjects of the natural gas market shall be performed by the National Electricity Regulatory Commission of Ukraine.

Activity on transporting, distributing, supplying at regulated and non-regulated tariffs, as well as on storing natural gas shall be subject to licensing.

The draft sets forth responsibility for violating legislation on the natural gas market. Violations at the natural gas market include:

• unauthorized extraction of natural gas;
• use of means for accounting natural gas, which do not meet technical regulations, norms, rules and standards;
• unauthorized interference with operation of systems for supplying natural gas, devices for its accounting, which influence safety of supplying natural gas or results of its metering;
• creation of obstacles for performing works related to servicing objects of supplying natural gas and measures related to full or partial suspension of supplying natural gas to consumers;
• violation of technical regulations, norms, rules, standards effective in Ukraine.

The draft also determines the procedure for:

• accessing the gas transportation system;
• accounting natural gas supplies;
• supplying natural gas;
• transporting natural gas;
• distributing natural gas;
• storing natural gas.