About 40 gas importers operating in Ukraine

Chief operating officer of the Association of Gas Producers of Ukraine Roman Opimakh said this in an interview with the Ukrainian News agency.

"The number of gas importers has doubled and so far reached 40 companies. Their number is larger than the number of active gas producers. We welcome opening of the market and growing competition. However, gas producers want to replicate the success of traders so that the industry could attract the foreign investors," Opimakh said.

As he noted, it is much easier to trade gas as the margin is almost guaranteed, while gas extraction poses large risks.

"It takes 5-7 years to explore new deposits and nearly $30-50 million in investment. That is why we believe that the sector, which pays larger taxes, creates jobs, attracts capital investments and modern technologies, should be motivated by the state to compete for the international investment in the world," the chief operating officer of the Association of Gas Producers of Ukraine stressed.

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