Ukraine wants to boost its natural gas imports by 30% following recent Russian airstrikes on its gas infrastructure, damage from which Ukrainian Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk described as significant on Tuesday.
Russia has sharply intensified its attacks on Ukraine's energy sector in recent weeks and last Friday attacked Ukraine's main gas fields, raising fears of a possible gas shortage and the need for significant additional imports.
"We plan to increase imports by around 30% if we manage to expand our import capacity," Hrynchuk told a press briefing after a meeting with Western ambassadors.
"We plan to import throughout the coldest months, although the priority now is to secure imports for October-December and, if necessary, for other months."
The minister said that the total volume of imports would depend on how quickly Ukraine can recover its gas production, the intensity and targeting of the Russian attacks and the potential severity of damage to the gas transport system.
"The faster we can restore (production), the less we will need to import," Hrynchuk said, adding that an increase in liquified natural gas (LNG) imports was one of the possible options to cover shortages.
The government had previously said that Ukraine planned to import 4.6 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas in the 2025/26 season, starting the heating season with approximately 13.2 bcm of gas in its storage facilities.
Analysts and former officials say the country had already accumulated about 13 bcm in reserves.
Hrynchuk said the attacks targeted regional gas infrastructure, as well as power transmission facilities in Ukraine's frontline regions and severe restrictions on energy supplies were already in place in several northern regions.
Russia has been regularly bombing Ukraine's energy infrastructure since its 2022 invasion.
The minister said that her team had already worked out scenarios for action in the event of Russian attacks and prepared restrictions on gas supplies to the population and industry, which had not been done in all the years of the war.
"We are preparing for various scenarios, including the worst-case ones," Hrynchuk said.
