Naftogaz of Ukraine reaches agreement on financing, reservation of extra gas amounts

MOSCOW. Jan 18 (Interfax) - Naftogaz of Ukraine reached an agreement on financing and reserving extra amounts of natural gas for the current heating season during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Naftogaz CEO Alexei Chernyshov said.

"We agreed with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development [EBRD] on mechanisms to finance the purchases of the additional gas that Ukraine needs, agreed with our Western partners - the EBRD, Norway, the U.S., Germany, France, Canada, and the UK - on financing for this purchase, and agreed with leading oil and gas companies on reserving the required amounts," Ukrainian media outlets quoted Chernyshov as saying in a social media post on Wednesday.

"I thank partners for their strong support of Ukraine and our energy sector," he said.

As reported, Chernyshov in late December 2022 announced an agreement to buy 350 million cubic meters of natural gas from Norway's Equinor, as well as the purchase of another 100 million cubic meters on the market from EBRD authorized sellers.

The next objective, according to Chernyshov, is to receive an additional amount of up to 2 bcm of gas for power generation following the damage caused to Ukraine's power infrastructure.