Ukraine will do without Russian gas during the current heating season in 2015-2016, and most likely, no gas purchases from Russia will be needed next year too, Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn said.
“It’s not that we can – we will… Chances are huge [as for the next winter] that we won’t [buy gas from Russia],” he said at a Cabinet meeting in Kyiv on Feb. 11.
As was reported, in 2015 Ukraine cut natural gas imports by 15.9 percent, or 3.1 billion cubic meters, from 2014, to 16.4 billion cubic meters.
Imports of gas from Russia in 2015 totaled 6.1 billion cubic meters, which was 2.4 times down on 2014 (14.5 billion cubic meters).
Demchyshyn said that by that moment, Ukraine had consumed less gas from the underground storage facilities than it planned. The remaining volume of gas in the underground facilities is expected to be 7 billion cubic meters by the end of the current heating season, but its actual volumes will be even bigger.
The country has been reducing gas consumption, Demchyshyn said. In summer, Ukraine may launch energy saving programs, which will translate into even a greater reduction in gas consumption. As a result of this, demand for Russian gas will become lower.
“If we pump 11-13 billion cubic meters of gas [for storage], as was planned, we’ll be able to accumulate something more than 11 billion cubic meters without Russia,” he added.
