Ukraine has collected 13.06 billion cubic meters of gas in underground storage as of August 3, still short of the 18-19 bcm it seeks to store by mid-October, gas transport monopoly Ukrtransgaz said on Monday.
Ukrtransgaz had stored 1 bcm of gas in July, it said in a statement, Reuters reported.
Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn said last week the country planned to increase gas imports from Europe in August to 40 million cubic meters per day from 24 mcm in July in order to achieve the storage targets for next winter.
However, Ukrtransgaz said on Monday that the volume sent to reserves daily had fallen to 22.8 mcm as of August 3. The company gave no reason for the decrease, but Demchyshyn said on Sunday Ukraine still lacked funds for gas purchases.
Ukraine suspended gas imports from Russia on July 1 due to a pricing dispute, leaving it dependent on its own output and European imports.
Energy officials say Ukrtransgaz must store about 60 mcm per day to ensure it has enough gas for winter and to ensure there is no disruption to Russian gas piped across Ukraine to Europe. Ukraine cut natural gas imports from January to July 2015 by 27.2%, or 4 bcm, year-on-year, to 10.7 bcm, Ukrtransgaz said.
Gas imports from Europe accounted for around two-thirds of total imports and the share of gas imports from Russia totaled one-third (6.9 bcm and 3.8 bcm, respectively).
In 2014, Ukraine imported 19.466 bcm from Russia and Europe, worth$5.695 billion. In particular, imports from Europe totaled 5.016 bcm worth $1.755 billion, from Russia—14.450 bcm worth $3.940 billion.
