The use by Ukraine of gas from underground storage facilities, intended to offset spikes in gas consumption during cold spells, at the beginning of winter could subsequently result in an unpleasant situation, Russia's Permanent Representative to the European Union, Vladimir Chizhov, has said.

"Let's look at the actual situation that exists today. The 'winter package' is valid until the end of March. But Ukraine said recently that it would not buy Russian gas. It is its right," the high-ranking Russian diplomat said in an interview with Interfax in Brussels.

"We are not even discussing why it did so - either due to the absence of money or because Russian gas smells bad to Ukrainian noses, smells worse than Russian gas that transits through Slovakia or Hungary, or for some other reasons. It is known that the principle that was agreed and accepted by the Ukrainian side is the following: in the morning money, in the evening gas. It means that gas was delivered following prepayments over the entire recent period. No prepayment is being made today. I cannot judge how much gas Ukraine buys from reverse flows, especially as the schemes there are quite non-transparent. Possibly, someone is earning quite good money from these reverse [deliveries]," Chizhov said.

What causes even greater concern is that Ukraine had pumped some 17 billion cubic meters of gas into its storage facilities by the start of the heating season, whereas, according to experts' estimates, it needs 19 billion cubic meters, he said.

"Last year, it was even less - 13 billion cubic meters. And they said with confidence, which deserves better application, that it was enough gas last year. But we should not forget that last year saw quite a mild winter. Certainly, it is possible to say, looking out the window, that today it is still warm as well. But the winter is just beginning. And Ukraine, at the same time, has started to use [gas] from underground storage facilities, which store gas not for day-to-day use, but in case of an abrupt cold spell, including, first and foremost, in countries of the European Union," the Russian diplomat said.

"If here, in Western Europe, temperatures suddenly fall by ten degrees, the volume of gas consumption consequently shoots up in all countries. But it takes a gas molecule two weeks to travel from deposits in Urengoi to the Baumgarten gas hub in Austria. For this reason, these underground storage facilities are needed to offset spikes in [gas] consumption. And if they are emptied at the beginning of winter, the situation may become quite unpleasant by February," Chizhov said.

When responding to a question as to how the situation would develop in spring, after the 'winter package' expired, the Russian envoy said that it "will depend, first and foremost, on the Ukrainian side's conduct, on the disciplinary influence to be exerted on it by the European Commission, as well as the money that international financial institutions give to it."