Despite the military aggression, Ukraine has been and remains a reliable partner and remains ready to provide free capacities in the strategically important process of natural gas transportation from the Caspian Sea to the EU member states. This was stated by Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine Mykola Kolisnyk during the Ninth Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council in Baku, Azerbaijan. The meeting was chaired by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and attended by President of Romania Klaus Iohannis and European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simpson.

The participants discussed the results and plans to increase the capacity of gas transportation to the EU.

"The pumping season will commence in a few months. Most of the EU's underground gas storage (UGS) facilities are full, which contributes to an increase in interest in Ukrainian UGS facilities. The key solution is based on the use of the existing infrastructure - the capacity of the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline. For the Ukrainian GTS Operator, this is an opportunity to attract new customers for services at interconnection points," said Mykola Kolisnyk.

The Deputy Minister also emphasized that today "Ukraine is a full partner of the parties in the framework of cooperation in the oil and gas sector".

"One of the key infrastructure projects in the framework of cooperation with Azerbaijan is the Euro-Asian oil transportation corridor project to create a new route for oil transportation from the Caspian region to the EU markets. We are interested in the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project and stand ready to cooperate in diversifying natural gas supply routes," he added.

Mykola Kolisnyk emphasized that Ukraine's strategic interest was cooperation with the EU, the US, Turkey, and Azerbaijan, including weakening russia's influence in the southern direction.