Ukraine's Naftogaz urgently bought natural gas from Poland's PGNIG after Gazprom's withdrawal from starting deliveries to Ukraine, PGNIG said on late Friday.
The Polish company said that it signed a contract with Naftogaz for urgent gas supplies as Gazprom refused starting supply of gas to Ukraine on Wednesday.
Gazprom's decision came a day after the announcement of the award of the Stockholm Tribunal.
On Wednesday, the Stockholm Arbitral Tribunal ruled in favor of Naftogaz in two arbitrations cases against Gazprom in which the company had defaulted on its obligations on the transit of gas volumes to Ukraine.
Earlier Thursday, Gazprom confirmed that the arbitral tribunal has satisfied the requirements of Naftogaz based on the results of the two trials in court, and will pay the Ukrainian company $2.56 billion in compensation.
The contract with PGNIG is effective until the end of March 2018.
The contracted volume totals over 60 million cubic meters.
The delivery started today through Hermanowice node that connects Polish and Ukrainian gas transmission systems.
'The current situation around gas supply proves that our focus on diversification of supplies was the right decision. Thanks to our Polish partners, yet another attempt of Moscow to use gas as a political weapon against Ukraine has failed. I hope that the EU and governments of the relevant member states will consider this case when making their final decision on Nord Stream II,' said Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev.
Piotr Wozniak, President of PGNIG Management Board also commented on the contract and said that energy solidarity and good cooperation between neighboring countries is a duty.
'Especially now that Ukraine has problems with deliveries from Russia and the demand for natural gas for household heating purposes has been on the rise due to harsh winter conditions. PGNIG can ensure stable and secure gas supplies thanks to its diversified portfolio of, which is a mix of domestic production in Poland and import supplies including regular deliveries of LNG from Qatar and the U.S,' he explained.
By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr