Ukraine short 400 million euros for gas purchases ahead of winter — Shmyhal

Ukraine needs to raise around 400 million euros more to purchase additional volumes of natural gas before the start of the heating season.

This was stated by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal following a meeting with the heads of Ukrainian diplomatic missions, Censor.NET reports.

According to Shmyhal, the figure refers to the additional financing needs of NAK Naftogaz of Ukraine for gas imports. The minister clarified that the figure was calculated based on various scenarios.

“Gas for winter. Under various scenarios, Naftogaz’s additional need for financing gas imports amounts to 400 million euros,” he noted.

To cover this need, the government is counting on support from international partners. According to the minister, the search for such financing is already underway.

In September, the Ministry of Energy plans to hold the fifth ministerial meeting of the “Energy Ramstein.” Its goal is to strengthen the coordination of international assistance to Ukraine’s energy sector and attract new participants.

Shmyhal also outlined the broader scale of the country’s energy needs. The uncovered needs of the Ukraine Energy Support Fund already exceed 507 million euros. An additional 600 million euros is separately needed to improve the health of the electricity balancing market.

“We are counting on the active work of diplomats in promoting this assistance mechanism,” Shmyhal emphasized.