REUTERS
Since the beginning of December, Ukraine has reduced gas imports from Slovakia by more than three times as compared to the previous month's average daily volumes, according to Slovak gas transmission company Eustream.
As of December 1, import of natural gas from Slovakia, which accounts for over 90% of Ukraine's natural gas imports from the EU, was reduced to 0.6 million cubic meters (mcm), as compared to 28.9 mcm on November 30.
On the same day, Ukraine increased the volumes of gas pumped out of its underground storage facilities to 84.34 mcm, as compared to 54.16 mcm on the previous day, to cover growing demand for natural gas amid the cold weather.
According to Eustream, Ukraine on December 2 boosted gas imports from the EU to 8.6 mcm, and it submitted application for December 3 to import 8.5 mcm of gas.
As UNIAN reported earlier, in November, Ukraine imported 1.1 billion cubic meters of natural gas, of which 65% arrived from Europe, according to Ukrtransgaz, the operator of Ukraine's gas transportation system.
The company also noted that Ukraine had been importing gas only from Slovakia and Hungary.
Russia's Gazprom has set price for its gas for Ukraine at $227 per 1,000 cubic meters to be effective by the end of 2015.
Next year, Ukraine plans to purchase, when necessary, the Russian gas at $207-208 per 1,000 cubic meters. The price of gas on the European market is projected at $175-180 per 1,000 cubic meters in 2016.