Photo from UNIAN
Ukraine has already accumulated 21.7 billion cubic meters of gas in its underground storage facilities.
First Deputy Chairman of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine's Board Serhiy Pereloma says Ukraine will smoothly pass the heating season even if gas transit from Russia is halted and gas imports from European countries are limited.
"Regardless of weather conditions and the scenario with the natural gas transit that may develop, the Naftogaz group, with the participation of the state-run gas transmission system operator Ukrtransgaz, has repeatedly held exercises that simulated different scenarios related to both weather conditions and different consumption [of gas]. We also simulated the absence of transit and the restriction of natural gas imports from European countries. Any scenario confirms we are steadily passing the heating season," he said at a joint briefing with Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk on October 30.
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According to Pereloma, Ukraine has already accumulated 21.7 billion cubic meters of gas (bcm) in its underground storage facilities (USFs) for the time being, against 17 bcm year-over-year.
In turn, Ukrainian Minister of Energy and Environmental Protection Oleksiy Orzhel said the country's coal reserves were almost equal to those posted last year.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers in early October created an ad hoc group chaired by Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine Aliona Babak for the normal start of the heating season.