Ukrainian PM Believes Country Should Consume Zero Russian Gas

Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk claims that he wants to bring the consumption of Russian gas in Ukraine down to zero.

KIEV (Sputnik) — Ukraine should bring the consumption of natural gas from Russia down to zero, the country’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has said.

“We have proven that we are able to break our dependency from Russian gas… I want to bring it [the consumption of Russian gas in Ukraine] down to zero,” Yatsenyuk said as quoted in a statement published on the official website of Ukrainian government late on Sunday.

Ukrainian Prime Minister added that in 2014 Ukraine bought only 33 percent of the gas it has consumed from Russia while in 2013 this figure stood at 95 percent.

Earlier Ukrainian gas network operator Ukrtransgaz said that in 2014 Ukraine imported 5.1 billion cubic meters of gas from Europe – Slovakia, Poland and Hungary — which is 51 percent more than in 2013.

In 2014 Ukraine spent almost six months not receiving any gas from Russia due to Kiev’s massive debt that at the time exceeded $5 billion. Following months of negotiations with participation of the European Union, Moscow resumed the deliveries of natural gas to Ukraine on December 9.