Ukraine ended the summer with gas reserves significantly lower than last year’s – by winter, it is short of gas worth €1.5 billion

As of August 31, Ukraine’s gas reserves amounted to 6.5 billion cubic meters of “free” gas, significantly lower than in 2024.

This is according to statistical and operational data.

At the beginning of the previous heating season, reserves exceeded 13 billion cubic meters, of which more than 8.2 billion were considered “free” — meaning they could be quickly withdrawn from storage.

The autumn of 2024 was very dry, and the winter was mild, which allowed substantial savings of natural gas.

For a stable heating season, the country needs about 10 billion cubic meters of “free” gas. As of today, Ukraine is short by roughly one-third of that volume — 3.5 billion cubic meters. The cost of the missing fuel is about €1.4 billion at current prices.

Meanwhile, in August, Kyiv reduced natural gas imports from the EU by 20% compared to July. The drop amounted to 160 million cubic meters, despite falling prices on the European market.

Hungary and Slovakia (whose markets are dominated by Russian energy supplied through the TurkStream pipeline) retained leading positions in supplying gas to Ukraine, accounting for 63.5% of imports in August. Overall, since active imports from the EU began in May, these two countries have provided 67.35% of Ukraine’s total supplies.

It should be recalled that at the end of August, Russia carried out a strike on Ukraine’s gas infrastructure in Lubny.