Ukraine Can Get Through Coming Winter, Says Šefčovič

Vice-President for the European Commission's Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič says that Ukraine will not pay the price of prolonged gas negotiations and delays in filling its gas storage given Kiev’s successful efforts to improve energy efficiency and diversify gas supplies. 

"I believe they will get through the winter without any major problems,” Mr. Šefčovič said in Bratislava on Monday. 

According to several reports, Ukrainian Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Volodymyr Demchyshyn also said on Monday that Kiev does not need to buy Russian gas until the end of the year.

As of November 22, Ukraine has 16,521 million cubic metres of gas in its storage facilities, data published by Gas Infrastructure Europe shows.

In recent hours, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk also met to discuss “the return of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to Ukraine”.