REUTERS
Naftogaz chief Andriy Kobolev said at a press conference on Tuesday that the company is in talks with the European gas suppliers to negotiate price reduction, while Ukraine has no plans to abandon the reverse gas supplies from Europe.
Kobolev noted that the increase in gas supplies from Slovakia was made possible due to the two western traders starting to independently supply "blue fuel" to the Ukrainian consumers.
Kobolev also said Naftogaz of Ukraine intends to sign a tripartite agreement on the supply of Russian natural gas in late September – early October.
At this, Kobolev informed that the price of Russian gas to Ukraine in the fourth quarter of 2015 would amount to $227.36 per 1,000 cubic meters.
According to him, as of September 28, underground gas storage facilities of Ukraine have had 15.562 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas. Naftogaz chief said that after purchases of the Russian gas are resumed, gas reserves could be increased to 17.4 bcm by the end of October.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the reserves of natural gas in Ukrainian underground storage facilities increased from September 21 to September 26 by 1.4%, or 217 million cubic meters (mcm), to 15.517 bcm.
According to Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukraine intends to increase its natural gas reserves to 19 bcm before the beginning of winter heating season in mid-October to ensure uninterrupted gas transit to Europe.
On July 1, Ukraine suspended gas deliveries from Russia after fruitless talks in Vienna and significantly reduced its purchases from the EU. At this, Ukraine expects to mobilize enough funds from international financial organizations this autumn to secure necessary reserves in its underground gas storage facilities for the next heating season.