Ukrainian gas reserves at the end of winter have been reduced to a historic low, forcing enormous imports.

Ukrainian underground storage facilities contained about 6.3 billion cubic meters of gas as of the end of February, which is a historic low for this period. This is 31% below the average level in 2015-2018, and 31% below last year. Combined with the difficult conditions at many Ukrainian infrastructure facilities after Russian shelling, this creates significant challenges in preparing for next winter.

In addition, in February Ukraine had to import 511.8 million cubic meters of natural gas, which is the highest figure in 1.5 years – since September 2023. Compared to January, gas imports increased 12 times. The largest amount of gas was imported from Slovakia – 234.4 million cubic meters, or 45.8% of all import supplies. Most of the blue fuel was imported through the bonded warehouse regime – 401 million cubic meters.

The main reasons for the increase in February’s import volumes were a reduction in Ukrainian production after Russian attacks and a cold snap.