Half of the country may be left without gas: Ukrainians face resource shortage

Ukraine is facing a natural gas shortage, as its underground gas storage facilities have only 50% of the required reserves. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced this during a briefing.

According to the president, this situation has arisen as a result of merciless attacks by Russian troops on gas infrastructure facilities, which could lead to a crisis in the supply of the resource to the population.

“Massive shelling of gas storage facilities and production facilities has led to the loss of part of our capabilities, which we are now gradually restoring,” he noted.

Zelenskyy emphasized that, as a result of the attacks, Ukraine has suffered significant losses in the fields of gas storage and production. Currently, reserves account for approximately 50% of the required volume.

The president added that active work is underway, in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy, to eliminate the deficit. To provide the population with gas, it is necessary to purchase additional fuel volumes worth about one billion euros.

In addition, the head of state held talks with the Prime Minister of Norway to discuss potential gas supplies to Ukraine.

As a reminder, as of March 31 this year, Ukraine’s underground gas storage facilities held 5.4 billion cubic meters of gas, which is a record. The total capacity of Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities is 30.95 billion cubic meters, making them the largest in Europe. According to data for 2017, Ukraine’s proven gas reserves are estimated at 39 trillion cubic feet.