Ukraine has not been buying Russian gas for a long time, and the country's gas transmission system can operate without its transit, Yuriy Vitrenko, CEO of NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy, told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of the 17th YES Annual Meeting held by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation at the end of last week in Kyiv.

"The president directly says that the main risks are military risks. If there is deterioration in certain sectors of the front, then, according to our experience, we cannot help in any way. People should be prepared for everything, for the fact that while fighting lasts for a month or two, they could survive even without heating," Vitrenko said.

According to him, now the company has 1,600 subscribers in Donetsk region, while there were 300,000 of them.

He added that there are also risks of targeted attacks by Russian aggressors on energy infrastructure facilities (the conversation took place on the eve of the strike on such facilities in Kharkiv region).

"We have many situations: in Okhtyrka, in the first days of the war, the heating and utility services were deliberately bombed and the population was left without heating. Severodonetsk CHP had a similar situation, Mariupol ... there are many cases when they did this on purpose. People should prepare that the most important are military risks," Vitrenko said.

According to him, the financial issue is also important, because the prices for imported gas are very high.

Naftogaz will be able to import some volumes of gas if they are needed, but the price of (imported) gas is $2,000-2,500 (per 1,000 cubic meters), and we sell less than $200 and still do not receive funds in full," he said.

He recalled that the funds should go to the government's special fund, and from there to Naftogaz to cover this mechanism of indirect subsidies.

"Through the special fund, we should not talk about loans, loans must be repaid. When Naftogaz imports gas at $2,000 (per 1,000 cubic meters) and sells it at $200, this is not a question of a loan. The question is that the government compensates for the difference between $2,000 and $200," Vitrenko said.

As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said at YES meeting that 90 days of winter will determine the future of Ukraine and Europe.

"This will be a difficult stage – we must survive this winter. This is the most difficult winter that will be in the whole world. These are 90 days that will be a test for our faith in victory, a test for our endurance and unity, for our ability to defend ourselves, freedom and fundamental values for any person in the world. Russia is doing everything in these 90 days to break the resistance of Ukraine, Europe and the world," the head of state said.

He called on all authorities to prepare as much as possible for the heating season, in particular, for Russia to stop gas transit through Ukraine.

Minister of Energy Herman Haluschenko said at YES that Ukraine's existing energy resources and capacities are enough to pass the heating season without a blackout.

"Risk number one is military attacks: missile attacks on specific generation capacities," the minister said. According to him, this issue is being discussed with the Armed Forces, and every effort will be made to protect the generation capacity.