The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has instructed NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy to increase gas stocks in underground gas storage (UGS) facilities to 19 billion cubic meters (bcm) at the beginning of the 2022-2023 heating season, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said.

"The government is considering several scenarios for the development of events at once for maximum readiness for winter. Today, we are instructing NJSC Naftogaz to have at least 19 bcm of gas in our gas storage facilities by the beginning of the heating season," he said at a government meeting on Tuesday.

According to him, as of June 1, 10 bcm of gas are stored in Ukrainian UGS facilities, which is 1 bcm more than it was at the end of the previous heating season, and 7.5%, or 700 million cubic meters (mcm) more than, for example, were the averages in 2014-2018.

The prime minister added that the government estimates the volume of its own production at the level of 16 bcm to 19 bcm, consumption from 21 bcm to 24 bcm.

"Accordingly, we will import part of the gas. We have the capacity for this. We also have agreements with our neighbors in the West," the prime minister said.