Ukraine on Saturday increases gas import from Europe due to crisis from 4 to 29 mln cubic meters a day - Poroshenko
KYIV. March 3 (Interfax) - Ukraine on Saturday increased gas import from Europe from four to 29 million cubic meters a day, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said during a visit to the dispatching office of Ukrtransgaz on Saturday morning.
"We sharply increased the import from the EU as of 10:00 a.m. There was four million cubic meters and now there is 29 million cubic meters. It is the 25 million cubic meters a day that we needed," he said.
Ukraine's losses caused by Gazprom's refusal to fulfill the conditions of the decision of the Stockholm arbitration on gas supply to the country have to be compensated for by the Russian company, the president said.
"Relevant instructions have been given, Naftogaz Ukrainy lawyers are preparing relevant recommendations, all these losses will be compensated for by Gazprom," Poroshenko said.
Ukraine was supposed to get gas in March under a contract with Gazprom at a price of $238.55 cubic meters per 1,000, whereas the prices on the spot market on which the country now buys gas in Europe are above $250, he said.
Gazprom earlier initiated in arbitration court the severance of its contracts with Naftogaz for the supply of gas to Ukraine and gas transit to Europe through its territory following the decision made by the Stockholm arbitration. Taking into account the cold weather and associated increase in consumption and gas prices in Europe, Naftogaz called on the population and enterprises of the country to reduce gas consumption for a couple of days until the contracting of the necessary volumes of gas in Europe and forecast warming.
According to Ukrtransgaz, natural gas imports to Ukraine on March 1 amounted to 2.836 million cubic meters (Slovakia - 2.539 million cubic meters, Hungary - 0.296 million cubic meters, Poland - 0.001 million cubic meters).
As of March 2, 4.503 million cubic meters was booked the entrance to the Ukrainian gas transmission system from Europe for gas imports (Slovakia - 1.893 million cubic meters, Hungary - 0.549 million cubic meters, Poland - 2.061 million cubic meters). As of March 3, the "reservation" already amounted to 26.387 million cubic meters (Slovakia - 16.9 million cubic meters, Hungary - 7.425 million cubic meters, Poland - 2.062 million cubic meters).
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