Ukraine Reserved $3.1b for Winter Gas Needs

Ukrainian state-owned gas company Naftogaz has put aside $3.1 billion to buy gas for the forthcoming winter, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yatseniuk said on Friday, warning that the country was not able to survive without supplies of Russian gas.

Yatseniuk said Ukraine, to whom Russia's Gazprom cut supplies on June 16 in a row over pricing, needed a further 5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of Russian gas.

Ukraine has been trying to secure more gas from the European Union and cut consumption levels from last year's 50 billion cubic metres (bcm).

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Writing by Alessandra Prentice)