KIEV: Ukraine plans to cover up to 60 percent of its gas import needs this year from Europe, leaving its once-dominant supplier Russia delivering the rest, the head of the state energy firm told Reuters.
In an interview, Naftogas chief executive Andriy Kobolyev said supplies from Russia could drop in a few years to just a third of total Ukrainian imports as Ukraine takes advantage of its ability to import more from the liberalized European markets.
Those figures would have been impossible to imagine a few years ago, when Russia was covering all of Ukraine’s gas imports: over 50 billion cubic meters out of a total consumption of over 70 bcm.
But several pricing conflicts, the overthrow of Kiev’s pro-Russian president, and Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and support for pro-Russian rebels have destroyed bilateral relations.
Ukraine’s battered economy had to slash energy consumption and some enterprises switched to coal as Russia sold its gas to Ukraine at prices much higher than those in Europe.
As a result, Ukraine imported only 21 bcm last year, of which 5 bcm came from Europe.
This year, it will cut imports to around 20 bcm, of which only 40 percent will come from Russia and 60 percent will come from European suppliers such as RWE, GDF and Statoil.
Ukraine’s imports from Europe angered Russia’s Gazprom, which said its European buyers were reselling Russian gas to Ukraine in breach of existing contracts. But Ukraine argues that European gas markets are free.
