Naftogaz Hopes to Avoid Buying Russian Gas in 2016, Relies on EU Imports

Naftogaz assumes it can avoid purchasing Russian gas in 2016, according to the company's CEO.

KIEV (Sputnik) – Ukraine’s national gas company Naftogaz hopes to avoid purchasing Russian gas in 2016 and rely on imports from the European Union and cut consumption overall, Naftogaz head Andriy Kobolev said Thursday.

“I think that in 2016 we can say confidently that we will be able to completely avoid [purchasing] Russian gas by increasing imports from Europe and cutting back consumption in Ukraine and this will allow us to say that we can buy all of our gas from Europe if necessary,” Kobolev told journalists. 

Ukraine halted all natural gas purchases from Russian energy giant Gazprom last July after the parties failed to agree on the terms of gas deliveries for the third quarter of 2015.

Moscow, Kiev and the European Commission reached a deal last month on the delivery of 2 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Ukraine during the peak consumption period, which started on October 1 of this year and lasts until the end of March in 2016.

Earlier in October, Gazprom announced that it had renewed deliveries to Ukraine after receiving $234 million in prepayment, out of the agreed $500 million total deal, from Ukraine’s Naftogaz.