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Ukraine Nears Gas Supply Deal With Azerbaijan via Trans-Balkan Corridor
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![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
The pilot project for delivering gas from Azerbaijan to Ukraine through the Trans-Balkan corridor has been successfully completed, and preparations are now underway to sign a contract that would allow such supplies to continue.
Ukraine’s Deputy Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk confirmed the progress in a comment to RBC-Ukraine on August 18.
“We are currently holding negotiations. Azerbaijan is interested in this. If a contract is signed, then supplies will continue in 2025,” Hrynchuk said.
At the same time, she warned of ongoing military threats to Ukraine’s energy system. According to Hrynchuk, Russia has recently intensified attacks on gas infrastructure, posing significant risks to facilities that ensure import operations.
Ukraine has already taken a significant step forward in this direction. On July 28, state-owned Naftogaz announced that it had begun importing Azerbaijani natural gas through the Trans-Balkan route for the first time. CEO Serhii Koretskyi confirmed that Naftogaz Group signed its first agreement to purchase Azerbaijani gas from a company within the SOCAR Group.
“A test delivery is being carried out along the route Bulgaria–Romania–the Ukrainian border. While the volume is relatively small, this is a strategically important step that paves the way for long-term cooperation. It is also another example of diversifying supply sources and strengthening Ukraine’s energy security,” Koretskyi said.
Earlier, Russian forces carried out a large-scale Shahed drone strike on the SOCAR oil depot in Ukraine’s Odesa region.
A series of direct hits sparked a massive fire that left the facility devastated—every storage tank, the pumping station, control and weighing facilities, and technical buildings were damaged, while the perimeter fence was completely destroyed. With a capacity of more than 16,000 cubic meters, the depot has been rendered inoperable.
