UNIAN
Ukraine is planning to suspend the purchase of Russian gas from April 1 because it does not need to buy any at this time, Minister of Energy of Ukraine Volodymyr Demchyshyn said at a briefing on Monday.
"There is no need to buy Russian gas now. I think that we will not buy it," Demchyshyn said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the next stage of talks on the conditions and the possible price of Russian gas for Ukraine in the framework of the so-called "summer gas package" from April 1, 2015 was held on March 20, in Brussels. The talks were held in the format of Ukraine - EU - Russia, at the level of energy ministers and with the participation of the European Commissioner for Energy.
The parties agreed that the conditions of the "winter gas package," agreement on which was reached on October 30, 2014, were fully implemented, but the terms of the "summer gas package" would have to be discussed at the level of expert groups.
Ukraine says it has made substantial savings on gas this year due to the relatively mild winter. Ukraine has large underground gas storage facilities which it uses as part of its gas transit infrastructure, but which also keep its gas reserves.
The country has been trying to diversify its sources of imported gas away from Russia in the past year, buying small amounts of gas from Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, and seeking to increase its own production of gas.