Ukraine will be able to do without buying Russian gas and will import more gas from Europe instead in 2016, says Andriy Kobolev, chairman of the Ukrainian national energy company Naftogaz Ukrainy.

"I think we can say definitely in 2016 that we'll be able to do fully without Russian gas," Kobolev said at the Orchestrators of Change forum of top managers of Ukrainian companies in Kyiv on Thursday.

Kyiv will be able to achieve this goal through expanding gas imports from Europe and reducing gas consumption inside the country, Kobolev said.