Information for natural gas consumers

General conditions of natural gas supply

The terms of natural gas supply are regulated by the Law of Ukraine On the Natural Gas Market No. 329-VIII dated 09.04.2015, the Rules for Natural Gas Supply approved by the NEURC Resolution No. 2496 dated 30.09.2015, the Gas Transmission System Code, and the Gas Distribution Systems Code. The basis for the supply of natural gas to the consumer is:

• he consumer, whose facility is connected to the gas distribution system, has a natural gas distribution agreement concluded by the established procedure between the consumer and the GDS Operator, and the GDS Operator assigns a personal EIC code to the consumer as a natural gas market participant;
• he consumer whose facility is connected to the gas transmission system has a natural gas transportation agreement concluded by the established procedure between the consumer and the GTS Operator, and the GTS Operator assigns a personal EIC code to the consumer as a natural gas market participant;
• the consumer has a natural gas supply agreement with the supplier and complies with its terms and conditions;
• наявність підтвердженого обсягу природного газу на відповідний розрахунковий період для потреб споживача;
• availability of a confirmed volume of natural gas for the relevant billing period for the consumer's needs;

Natural gas is supplied to the consumer under a natural gas supply agreement concluded by the requirements of applicable law, under which the supplier is obliged to supply the consumer with natural gas in the volumes (quantities) required by the consumer, and the consumer is obliged to pay the supplier for the cost of natural gas in the amount, terms and manner specified in the agreement.

The conclusion of a natural gas supply agreement shall be subject to the following requirements:

• the consumer has the right to conclude a natural gas supply agreement with any supplier, provided that there are no overdue debts for the supplied natural gas to the existing supplier;
• a natural gas supply agreement shall not be concluded if the supplier purchases natural gas for its own needs from its own confirmed volume of natural gas;
• the natural gas supply agreement shall be concluded for the entire expected volume of natural gas consumption required by the consumer or at its commercial metering point, which is assigned a separate EIC code and for a term that is a multiple of the billing period specified in the natural gas supply agreement.

Confirmed volumes of natural gas are determined by the rules established by the Gas Transmission System Code and communicated to the consumer under the terms of the natural gas supply agreement concluded between the supplier and the consumer.

The consumer and its supplier have the right to adjust the confirmed volumes of natural gas during the billing period by the procedure established by the Gas Transmission System Code.

The consumer (except for a household consumer) must adhere to the confirmed volume of natural gas (approved nomination) determined for him by the supplier for the relevant billing period, and in case of approaching its possible excess at the end of the billing period, he must notify his supplier about it and in case the supplier refuses to adjust the volume or does not agree on the adjustment (renomination) by the procedure established by law, take measures to limit (terminate) its consumption of natural gas to prevent exceeding the confirmed volumes of natural gas (approved nomination).

A cubic meter of natural gas, normalized to standard conditions and expressed in energy units, is considered to be a unit of natural gas supplied.

Consumption of the confirmed volume of natural gas during the billing period is usually carried out evenly based on the daily rate unless a different consumption regime is provided for in the concluded natural gas supply agreement.

The volume of natural gas consumed by the consumer in the billing period shall not exceed the confirmed volume of natural gas. Deviations in the consumption of natural gas during the billing period in the amount of ± 5% of the confirmed volume of natural gas are allowed.

Based on the results of the billing period, the consumer is obliged to provide the current supplier with a copy of the relevant act on the actual volume (volume) of natural gas distributed (transported) to the consumer for the billing period, drawn up between the GDS/GTS Operator and the consumer, by the requirements of the Gas Transmission System Code/Gas Distribution Systems Code, by the 05th day of the month following the billing period.

Based on the data received from the consumer and/or the GTS Operator's data, the supplier shall prepare and provide the consumer with two copies of the natural gas acceptance and transfer certificate for the billing period signed by the supplier's authorized representative within three business days. The relationship between the supplier and the GTS Operator regarding the exchange of information on the actual volumes of natural gas consumed by the consumer is regulated by the Gas Transmission System Code and a separate natural gas transmission agreement is concluded between the supplier and the GTS Operator.

Within two days from the date of receipt of the natural gas acceptance certificate, the consumer shall return to the supplier one copy of the original natural gas acceptance certificate signed by the consumer's authorized representative or provide a reasoned refusal to sign the natural gas acceptance certificate in writing.

In case of refusal to sign the natural gas acceptance certificate, the differences shall be settled by the agreement or in court.

Until a court decision is made, the cost of the supplied natural gas shall be set by the supplier's data.

If the consumer's facility or a part thereof is leased and the lease agreement provides that the lessee has the right to supply the leased facility or a part thereof with natural gas, the lessee and the supplier may enter into a natural gas supply agreement.

If the consumer does not have an active supplier and/or a confirmed volume of natural gas in the relevant billing period, the consumer is not entitled to withdraw (consume) natural gas from the gas distribution system and is obliged to submit a written application to the DSO to terminate the distribution of natural gas to its facility.

Price, method and terms of payment for gas

1. Price of natural gas

Natural gas is supplied at prices freely negotiated between the supplier and the consumer.

2. Method and terms of payment for natural gas

Payment for natural gas shall be made in non-cash form by transferring funds to the current account of the Supplier. The date of payment of the invoice is the date on which the funds were credited to the Supplier's account.

The consumer shall pay for the supplied natural gas for the billing period by the terms of the natural gas supply agreement.

Underpayment or overpayment for natural gas

In case of underpayment of the cost of natural gas for the billing period, the consumer shall make the final payment by the terms of the natural gas supply agreement.

In case of overpayment, the amount of overpayment shall be credited to the next billing period or returned to the consumer's current account upon written request.

4. Procedure for repayment of debts for natural gas

If the consumer has a debt under the natural gas supply agreement, the parties (the supplier and the consumer) may agree on a debt repayment schedule, which is executed as an annex to the agreement or a separate debt restructuring agreement.

In the absence of a debt repayment schedule, the supplier has the right to credit the funds received from the consumer in the current billing period to the consumer's existing debt by the order of its occurrence.

The conclusion by the parties and the consumer's compliance with the agreed debt repayment schedule does not release the consumer from fulfilling current obligations under the agreement.

In the absence of a debt repayment schedule or its non-compliance or non-payment of current payments, the supplier has the right, by the procedure established by this section and the natural gas supply agreement, to terminate or restrict the supply of natural gas to the consumer's facility until the debt is fully repaid.

Quality of customer service

The supplier shall ensure minimum standards and requirements for the quality of customer service when providing natural gas supply services to the consumer.

The minimum standards and requirements for the quality of customer service, when the supplier provides natural gas supply services, include:

1) Provide a natural gas supply agreement signed by the supplier at the request of a residential consumer - within no more than 10 business days from the date of receipt of a written request from a residential consumer;

2) providing a notice of intention to amend the terms of the natural gas supply agreement for non-household consumers - within 30 days before the planned entry into force of such amendments (except for the price of natural gas, if it is set for the supplier by the relevant state authorities);

3) eliminating the violation or providing a reasonable refusal to the household consumer in case the supplier receives a claim from the household consumer about the supplier's violation of the terms of the Natural Gas Supply Rules and the natural gas supply agreement - within no more than 5 business days;

4) Provide a notice (with a mark of delivery) on the need to terminate/restrict gas consumption:

for non-household consumers - not less than three days (for metallurgical and chemical enterprises - not less than 5 days) before the date of such termination/restriction; for household consumers - not less than three days before the date of gas supply termination;

5) consideration of the consumer's claim for damages - within no more than 20 working days from the date of receipt of the postal item with a mark of delivery;

6) consideration of a consumer's written request - within one month from the date of receipt of the request.

Compensation for non-compliance with the minimum standards and requirements for the quality of customer service in the provision of natural gas supply services shall not be provided in cases where non-compliance with the minimum standards and requirements for the quality of customer service in the provision of natural gas supply services was caused by proven:

• force majeure, which is confirmed by the relevant certificate of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry;
• actions of the consumer that led to a delay in the provision of services or an emergency interruption in gas supply;
• actions of third parties that led to an emergency interruption in gas supply.

Detailed information is provided in the Resolution "On Approval of Minimum Standards and Requirements for the Quality of Customer Service and Natural Gas Supply".

Annual reporting

The financial statements, including annual reports, of the State Enterprise Infotech are available at the following link: https://infotech.gov.ua/documents/

Dispute resolution procedures

All disputes and disputes arising between the supplier and the consumer shall be resolved through pre-trial dispute resolution in a transparent, fair, and prompt manner. The supplier is obliged to consider all complaints received from consumers and report the results of their consideration within one month.

In the event of any disputes, the consumer may contact the State Enterprise INFOTECH in the following ways (at the consumer's option)

• in person at the address: 15 B Degtyarivska Street, Kyiv, 04050 (working hours: M-F: from 9:00 to 18:00; S-S: days off);
• by telephone at 38 (044) 363 43 34;
• by sending an e-mail to [email protected]

The person responsible for dispute resolution is Maksym Oleksandrovych Khimchenko, Director of the State Enterprise INFOTECH.

In case of failure to reach an agreement between the consumer and the supplier, disputes shall be resolved by the procedure established by the current legislation, including in court. In particular, the consumer has the right to apply for dispute resolution to the Natural Gas Market Regulator by Article 21 of the Law of Ukraine "On the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission" and/or to refer the dispute to the court by the current legislation of Ukraine.

Consumer appeals

On all issues, including issues related to the supplier's compliance with the minimum standards and requirements for the quality of customer service in the provision of natural gas supply services (approved by the NEURC Resolution No. 1156 dated 21.09.2017 - available on the website), the consumer may submit a written request to the State Enterprise INFOTECH in the following ways:

• Send a letter to the postal address: 15 B Degtyarivska Street, Kyiv, 04050;
• Send a letter to the e-mail address: [email protected];
• Apply in person to the address: 15 B Degtyarivska Street, Kyiv, 04050.

Working hours: Monday-Friday: from 9:00 to 18:00.

Saturday and Sunday are days off.