By the end of this year, Ukraine will import 5 billion cubic meters of gas

Ukraine, which has lost more than half its gas production due to Russian missile attacks, had imported 4.4 billion cubic meters (bcms) by December, and planned to import a further 0.6 bcms by year's end, said state energy company Naftogaz on Wednesday.

Serhiy Federenko, Naftogaz’s commercial director, said at a press conference that "we import in all directions by using all interconnectors."

"Our current rate of import is 26 million cubic meters (mcm), compared to 21 mcm per month. "The increase is due to the growth of imports from Naftogaz as well as private companies," said he.

Ukrainian authorities stated that the country needs an extra 4.4 billion cubic meters of gas in order to compensate for the shortfalls in domestic production.

According to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, additional gas could cost as much as 2 billion Euros.

Ukraine's Gas Transit Operators said this week that the country has almost doubled its gas imports via the southern Transbalkan Route linking it to Greece in December, replacing supplies lost because of Russian attacks.

Data from the operator showed that Ukraine is expecting to import 2.2 millions cubic metres of natural gas via this route on Wednesday. This volume is almost the same as Tuesday's and has increased since November when it was 1.2 million cubic meters per day.

The operator reported that Ukraine imports approximately 24 mcm per day from Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. (Reporting and editing by Louise Heavens, Pavel Polityuk)

(source: Reuters)