MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ukraine had stored 17.8 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas by Aug. 25, as the country looks to stockpile at least 20 bcm for the 2019/20 heating season, reported Reuters with reference to gas transport company Ukrtransgaz's Tuesday statement.
Ukraine had stored 14.3 bcm of gas by the same time last year.
The head of state energy company Naftogaz, Andriy Kobolev, has said that Ukraine needs to increase its gas reserves by 18% this year to cover its winter needs and to guarantee transit to European consumers.
The country consumed 32.3 bcm of gas in 2018, 10.6 bcm of which was imported. For the heating season from mid-October to April it stored 16.9 bcm of gas.
Ukraine used to meet its gas needs with imports from Russia but has not bought Russian gas directly since November 2015 after Kiev's relations with Moscow soured over Russia's annexation of Crimea the previous year.
Kiev now imports from Europe.
As MRC informed earlier, the volume of construction work in Ukraine in January-July 2019 increased by 21.8%, or by UAH 82 billion, according to the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction and Housing, the Ukrainian News Agency MINPROM reported. The leaders among the regions in terms of construction volume are Dnipropetrovsk, Odessa, Kharkov regions and Kiev. The largest volume of construction recorded in Kiev - 19.3 billion UAH.
MRC