UNIAN
Ukraine is planning to increase imports of natural gas in 2015 by 33% compared to 2014, from 19.5 billion cubic meters to 25.9 billion cubic meters, Deputy Minister of Energy Oleksandr Svetelik said on Friday during the regular Hour of Questions for the Government session in Ukraine’s parliament.
"According to the draft forecast balance, we will have the following gas supplies: 19 billion cubic meters of gas produced in Ukraine, and 25.9 billion cubic meters of gas from imports," he said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, in 2014, gas imports from Russia decreased by 44% to 14.5 billion cubic meters in comparison with 2013, while the delivery from the EU doubled to 5.1 billion cubic meters.
According to the chairman of the board of the NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy Andriy Kobolev, the share of gas imports from Russia to Ukraine at the end of 2015 will not exceed 40% of the total supplies of gas in the country.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk says that in the summer of 2015, when the price of gas on the European market is to be minimal, Ukraine will have to pump as much gas into its underground gas storage facilities as it can, and create a strategic reserve.