KIEV (Sputnik) — Ukrainian Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn said Friday he expects Kiev to receive a loan for winter gas supplies by the end of October.
"I am confident that there will be a result by the end of October," Demchyshyn told reporters.
On July 1, Ukraine suspended gas purchases from Russia’s energy company Gazprom because the two countries were unable to reach an agreement covering the third quarter of 2015. At present, Ukraine receives reverse gas flows from Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.
Ukraine's economy has deteriorated since an armed conflict between government forces and independence supporters in the country's southeast erupted in April 2014, since which the country has increasingly been relying on loans from foreign institutions and countries.
On August 10, Ukraine's state-run energy company Naftogaz said it would allocate funds from a $300-million loan provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to the purchase natural gas from the European Union.
