Slobozhanska area, where shale gas extraction is possible, is located at the territory of Kharkiv region (Dnieper-Donets basin) and has a surface area of about 6 thousand square kilometers.

It was planned to announce a tender for concluding a product sharing agreement in September, 2012. Ministry of ecology and natural resources of Ukraine estimated potential natural gas extraction volume at the level of 6-8 billion cubic meters per year.

Last month, Deputy Minister of ecology and natural resources, Dmytro Mormul, again expressed hope, that the tender for concluding a product sharing agreement will be announced in September this year.

At the same time, Minister of ecology and natural resources, Oleg Proskuriakov, in his interview to Kommersant newspaper from 2 of August, 2013 confirming the possibility of tender announcing for Slobozhanska area in the future, noted: “here we should remember, that there are not many large international players, which are ready to invest in development of mineral resources. Now, our main priority is signing the agreements with the companies, which are already came to us. We had already announced a tender for Foroske oil and gas field, but there were no companies willing to participate. We have saturated the market with supply”.