A loan from the World Bank for gas purchases will be obtained within one or two months, Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine Volodymyr Demchyshyn considers.

"They [the funds] will be obtained, I think, in a month or two," Demchyshyn said after a government meeting.

According to the minister, on January 12 he met with the head of the World Bank in Ukraine and the latter confirmed interest in the project.

Demchyshyn also said that because of the fact that at the moment gas reserves in Ukraine are sufficient, there is no critical need for immediate purchase of gas.

As reported, the World Bank considered the possibility of issuing $500 million to Naftogaz Ukrainy for gas purchases both from European and Russian directions. Naftogaz Head Andriy Kobolev in early November expected that this project will be submitted for approval in December or January, but it has not been put on the agenda of the bank board of directors.