During the shelling of Kharkiv and Poltava regions on October 3, the Russian Federation destroyed approximately 60% of Ukraineʼs gas production. After the shelling, “Naftogaz” reported that this was the most massive attack on Ukraineʼs gas production infrastructure since the start of the full-scale war.
Bloomberg writes about the damage Russia has caused to gas production, citing informed sources.
Following the attack, Ukraine has made urgent requests to its G7 partners for equipment to repair its energy system and reiterated its request for more air defense systems. Kyiv is also seeking financial support to pay for necessary gas imports.
Ukraineʼs national energy company “Naftogaz” declined to comment, but in a LinkedIn post, its CEO Serhiy Koretsky said he had a "productive" meeting with G-7 representatives and had spoken with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other partners.
According to Bloomberg sources, if the strikes continue, Ukraine will need to buy about 4.4 billion cubic meters of gas worth about €2 billion by the end of March. This is equivalent to almost 20% of Ukraine’s annual consumption.
Ukraine has purchased 4.58 billion cubic meters of gas from foreign suppliers this year, including 3.67 billion since the end of the last heating season. Kyiv plans to reach 5.8 billion cubic meters of gas imports by the end of this year, but allies were told earlier this week that this figure could rise due to Russian attacks.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Svitlana Hrinchuk said that the exact amount of gas Ukraine needs will depend on a number of factors, including the speed of repair of damaged facilities and the consequences of any future air strikes.
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