Ukraine to continue buying all gas from Europe in near term

11:40, 22.01.2016 1 min read

Lower prices of natural gas on the European market and its sufficient stocks in Ukraine's underground storage facilities let Ukraine do without Russian gas purchases, Naftogaz Ukrainy CEO Andriy Kobolev said.

"Now we're buying all gas on the European market. We don't need to change purchase tactics now. Especially when prices in Europe are better," he told reporters on the sidelines of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation's Ukrainian Breakfast 2016 in Davos, Switzerland, on Friday.

As of Friday morning, gas purchases in Europe were about 40 million cubic meters per day and the amount taken from the underground facilities was about 90 million cubic meters, Kobolev said.

He also admitted that theoretically there could be a situation when Ukraine would have to buy Russian gas if there were severe frosts.

"The end of February used to be the problematic period for the Ukrainian gas transport system," he added.

In his words, the Ukrainian gas pipelines are now working in usual mode.