The nine-month lag in the formula of price for natural gas under a contract between the national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy and OJSC Gazprom, taking into account the current market situation, are the reasons for predicting that the lowest price of gas will be in the fourth quarter of 2016, Development Director at Naftogaz Ukrainy Yuriy Vitrenko has said.

"We have a large lag in the contract. Under the [contract] formula it is likely that cheapest gas will be in the fourth quarter, but we start to pump in the third quarter," he told Interfax-Ukraine.

Vitrenko said that the lowest oil price was in the first quarter of 2016, to be more precise, on January 1.

Commenting on the current situation on the spot gas market, he said that the holding hoped that the prices would be lower.

"Now we see that they are not lower," he said.

Vitrenko said that the price under the contract with Gazprom is taken into account when deciding to increase imports of gas, which will be pumped into underground gas storage facilities.

"Russian gas remains the main factor in our considerations," he said.