Ukraine has only half the gas supply needed for the upcoming winter after Russian strikes damaged storage facilities and production infrastructure; Kyiv estimates around €1 billion ($1.1 billion) will be required to fully prepare, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky said during a briefing with journalists on June 2: “We have a deficit. We’re dealing with this because there were massive attacks on gas storage facilities, gas production infrastructure and so on.”
“We lost some capacities – they are being restored,” he said.
According to Zelensky, Ukraine needs around $1.1 billion and is now discussing it with the Norwegian Prime Minister.
The Norwegian government is already set to provide €138.6 million ($149.6 million) in grants for Ukraine’s state-owned gas production company, Naftogaz, to import gas to secure heating and electricity for households, businesses, and industry.
“But we agreed with the Ukrainian Minister of Energy that we will look for ways to cover this deficit that might occur – if everything isn’t restored, if we are not able to fully provide gas for our population,” Zelensky said.
Ukraine is set to launch a new Trans-Balkan gas transportation route through Bulgaria, Romania, and Moldova to provide alternative and competitive natural gas supplies and strengthen the region’s energy security.
As of May 1, Ukrane’s underground gas storage held 5.7 billion cubic meters, or 18.4% of its designed capacity and 33% less than at the same period last year, Kyiv Post previously reported.
At the start of last year’s heating season, on Nov. 1, Ukraine had 12.92 billion cubic meters of gas in storage. To reach a similar level by this November, the country needs to inject 7.2 billion cubic meters between May and October, the consulting agency ExPro reported.