A reduction by Ukraine of natural gas imports from Europe is connected with the pumping of gas by Hungary into its underground storage facilities, NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy CEO Andriy Kobolev said at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday.

"We hope that this reduction in amounts of reserve supplies is temporary, it is happening due to the prolongation of certain state decisions by Hungary on the amounts of gas being pumped into its underground storage facilities," he said.

He said this was not critical for Ukraine, as the bulk of imports from European countries are scheduled to arrive from Slovakia starting from September. At the same time, gas shipments from Poland to Ukraine remain at the highest possible level, which is about 4 million cubic meters of gas per day.

"This is unpleasant, and we'll be tackling this issue, but this is not critical, and most gas supplies in reverse mode will come from [a pipeline in] Slovakia, which is now inoperative and scheduled to be launched in September," Kobolev said.