BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — Ukraine's state energy company is discussing the possibility of borrowing an additional $1.5 billion from the European Commission (EC) to purchase about 6 billion cubic meters of gas for underground storage for the next winter period, the head of Naftogaz said on Friday.
"We are looking at additional liquidity that may cover approximately 6 billion cubic meters of gas, this is the issue we would like to discuss with the EC. Taking current prices into account, the sum is close to $1.5 billion."
Following last month's trilateral talks between the EC, Moscow and Kiev, both Russian and Ukrainian energy ministers estimated Ukrainian underground gas storage needs at 12-19 billion cubic meters.
The sides also touched on the delivery of Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine. An estimated 30 to 40 percent of Europe's gas demands are met through the Ukrainian-transit pipeline.
The October 2014 EU-mediated "winter package" deal expired at the start of April, but Naftogaz and Russian energy company Gazprom reached an interim agreement though the second quarter of 2015 at a similar $100-per-thousand-cubic-meters discount.
Speaking at a press conference on the heels of a NATO-Ukraine deputy envoy-level commission on Friday, Kobolev expressed hope that the upcoming trilateral talks would result in a new gas delivery package to cover the next 12 months.
