Less than 14 billion cubic meters m. of gas is stored in underground storage facilities (UGS) in Ukraine today, which is a historically minimal indicator, said Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller during a meeting on the heating season to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“On December 24, Ukraine entered the zone of historical minimum gas reserves in its underground storage facilities. Today, gas reserves in Ukraine are less than 14 billion cubic meters of gas, which is 10 billion less than at the end of December last year, ”said the top manager, his words are quoted on the Kremlin’s website.
At the same time, Gazprom fully fulfilled its obligations to transit gas through Ukraine, Miller added. Thus, the company has already supplied 41.5 billion cubic meters. m. of gas with a planned volume of 40 billion cubic meters. m., he explained.
Earlier, the Ukrainian “Naftogaz” reported that its largest gas fields are depleted by 80%. Yuriy Vitrenko, Chairman of the Management Board of the company, noted that in recent years the volume of gas production has been decreasing with the goal of increasing it. Earlier, Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said that the country should achieve gas independence from Russia. In October, the republic’s cabinet of ministers instructed Naftogaz and Ukrgazvydobuvannya to increase the volume of gas production.
Vitrenko also said that the country is not able to ensure the flow of gas from alternative sources. The country cannot accept LNG tankers, he said. The top manager warned that Kiev would insist on the imposition of US sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. According to Kiev, Gazprom is deliberately reducing the volume of sales on the spot market and restricting the ability of other companies to supply additional volumes of gas to Europe.
On December 23, during a press conference, Putin described the accusations against Gazprom for gas supplies to Europe as an attempt to “turn everything upside down” and to put a “shadow on the fence”. Gazprom, according to the head of state, supplies to Europe the entire volume requested by the counterparties under the existing contracts. In addition, the Russian company is increasing its supplies to non-CIS countries and Europe, the head of state added.
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