Ukraine's Naftogaz says it seeks 1 billion euros to purchase over 2 bcm of gas

By Pavel Polityuk

KYIV, April 21 (Reuters) - Ukraine's state oil and gas firm Naftogaz is in talks with the government and international financial institutions to raise 1 billion euros to purchase over 2 billion cubic meters of gas for the 2025/26 heating season, the company said on Monday.

It said in a statement that 430 million euros from the EBRD and Norway would be used to purchase an additional 1 bcm of gas and another 0.1 bcm of LNG would come from Poland's Orlen PKN.WA.

Ukraine has been forced to ramp up gas withdrawals from storage and increase imports this winter and spring after Russian missile attacks damaged production facilities in the east of the country.

"Since the beginning of the year, 1.5 bcm of gas has been contracted: 800 mcm were urgently imported at the beginning of the year, and 400 mcm will be delivered to Ukraine in preparation for the next winter," Naftogaz CEO Roman Chumak said in a statement.

He said that a total of 300 mcm of LNG would be received from Poland's Orlen PKN.WA.

Industry sources told Reuters earlier this month that Orlen aims to sell 10 cargoes of LNG to Ukraine this year as Kyiv seeks to fill gas storage sites ahead of winter.

Ukraine has already received 2 cargoes with 200 mcm of LNG.

The former head of the Ukrainian gas transit operator, Serhiy Makogon, said on Sunday that the country needed to import up to 6.3 bcm of gas for the 2025/26 winter season as reserves have fallen to a record low due to war-related damage to some facilities.

Makogon noted that Naftogaz had announced the required volume of imports at a lower level of 4.6 bcm.

PRODUCTION, STORAGE

Naftogaz, the major Ukrainian gas producer, said it had managed to increase gas production by almost 10% in 2024 to 14.6 bcm, the highest level since 2017 despite constant Russian missile and drone attacks on its facilities.

"The most devastating attack was in February 2025, which caused significant damage to state gas production, with losses of almost 50% of the volume," Naftogaz said.

The company produced 13.3 bcm of gas in 2023.

Naftogaz also said its underground storage facilities were attacked this January and "if there are new strikes, the equipment for repairs is on its way."

Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities are the largest in Europe and the third largest in the world and can store around 30 bcm of gas.