Ukraine to Lower 2016 Gas Imports

Ukraine is likely to cut its natural gas imports to between 11 billion and 13 billion cubic metres (bcm) this year and source it all from the European Union, bypassing Russia completely, its energy minister was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

 

"There are different scenarios and the (existing) capacity of reverse (gas flows from the EU are) enough to cover this volume," Volodymyr Demchyshyn told the UNIAN news agency regarding 2016.

 

Ukraine, which imported 16.4 bcm on gas last year, previously imported gas only from Russia, but price disputes and diplomatic tensions have prompted it to turn to the EU instead.

 

Last year imports from the EU jumped to 10.3 bcm from about 5 bcm, mostly via Slovakia, while imports from Russia fell to 6.1 bcm from about 14.5 bcm.