iROZHLAS: MGS suspends Gazprom's lease of a gas storage facility in Moravia, Czechia

Moravia Gas Storage (MGS), which operates a gas storage facility in Dambořice in the Hodonín district, has suspended its lease to Russian company Gazprom. The move is a response to further sanctions against Russia. The contract is suspended until the end of March next year. The news website iROZHLAS reported. Gazprom is a co-owner of MGS.

Alongside Gazprom, MGS is also owned by MND (Moravian Oilfields), part of businessman Karel Komárek's KKCG investment group. The facility in Dambořice is the newest gas storage facility in the Czech Republic and one of the most modern in Europe. According to KKCG, its total capacity is 448 million cubic metres. Gazprom is to pay Komárek's company 7.5 billion crowns for a 15-year lease of the vast majority of the capacity.

At the end of February, the European Union approved its tenth sanctions package in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. „Under the sanctions package, MGS cannot provide gas storage services to Gazprom Export, so performance of the contract has been suspended for the duration of these sanctions. The entire storage capacity was subsequently sold to traders authorised to operate on the energy market in the Czech Republic, for the full season from April 2023 to the end of March 2024,“ MGS board member Pavel Marek told the website.