KIEV: Ukraine on Saturday increased gas import from Europe from four to 29 million cubic meters a day, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said during a visit to the dispatching office of Ukrtransgaz on Saturday morning. “We sharply increased the import from the EU as of 10:00 a.m. There was four million cubic meters and now there is 29 million cubic meters. It is the 25 million cubic meters a day that we needed,” he said.
Ukraine’s losses caused by Gazprom’s refusal to fulfill the conditions of the decision of the Stockholm arbitration on gas supply to the country have to be compensated for by the Russian company, the president said. “Relevant instructions have been given, Naftogaz Ukrainy lawyers are preparing relevant recommendations, all these losses will be compensated for by Gazprom,” Poroshenko said.
Ukraine was supposed to get gas in March under a contract with Gazprom at a price of $238.55 cubic meters per 1,000, whereas the prices on the spot market on which the country now buys gas in Europe are above $250, he said.
As it was reported, on March 1, Gazprom refused to resume gas supplies to Ukraine, having returned the advance payment, and continued the practice of violating its obligations to ensure the minimum necessary pressure at the entrance to the GTS of Ukraine. Taking into account the cold weather and associated increase in consumption and gas prices in Europe, Naftogaz called on the population and enterprises of the country to reduce gas consumption for a couple of days – before contracting the necessary volumes of gas in Europe and the forecasted warming.
