Head of the Board of NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy Oleksiy Chernyshov expects all local authorities to complete the heating season by the end of this week thanks to warm weather, which will save a significant amount of gas.

“We can conditionally say that if the temperature had been normal and we had continued this heating season, or there had been a cold spring, maybe we would have saved about 500 million cubic meters of gas,” he said.

At the same time, Chernyshov noted that even with such savings this year, it is still premature to talk about the resumption of gas exports, although Ukraine is “absolutely confidently moving, as a state, towards the status of an exporter.”

Asked about gas prices, the head of Naftogaz emphasized that for the population during the war they will remain regulated, and today they are limited to UAH 7.96 per cubic meter.

According to him, the real price, which is determined by supply and demand, is approximately UAH 12,000 per 1,000 cubic meters, and Naftogaz actually covers the difference between prices as a subsidy to the population.

As reported, natural gas reserves in underground storage facilities (UGS) in Ukraine amounted to 8.1 billion cubic meters as of mid-March, of which 740 million cubic meters belonged to non-residents, 2.2 billion cubic meters - residents, 4.6 billion cubic meters - Naftogaz Group.

Ukraine consumed 19.6 billion cubic meters of gas in 2023, including industry – 3.4 billion cubic meters with a gross production of 18.9 billion cubic meters, including private producers - 3.1 billion cubic meters.

Ukraine entered November 2023 with reserves in underground gas storage facilities of 16 billion cubic meters, by March 1, 2024 they dropped to 8.5 billion cubic meters.