Russian strikes in recent days have destroyed more than half of Ukraine's domestic natural gas production, likely forcing the country to spend 1.9 billion euros on fuel imports to survive the upcoming winter, writes Bloomberg.
According to Ukrainian authorities, a massive Russian shelling of the Kharkiv and Poltava regions on October 3 destroyed about 60% of the country's gas production.
If the strikes continue, by the end of March Ukraine will need to purchase about 4.4 billion cubic meters of gas for almost 2 billion euros. This is equivalent to almost 20% of Ukraine's annual consumption.
This year, Ukraine purchased 4.58 billion cubic meters of gas from foreign suppliers, including 3.67 billion since the end of the last heating season. Kyiv estimates that by the end of this year, the country's import needs will reach 5.8 billion, but after the attacks, this figure may increase. The exact amount of gas Ukraine needs will depend on a number of factors, including the speed of repairing damaged facilities and the consequences of possible future airstrikes, Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said on Tuesday.
Although Ukraine has survived previous winters with the help of generators during winter power outages, there is growing concern that the damage from the recent series of attacks will not be repaired by the end of winter. According to agency sources, the bill for emergency repairs to energy facilities will amount to about 758 million euros.
Kyiv estimates the direct material damage to the energy sector since the beginning of the invasion at 20.51 billion dollars, including 14.8 billion dollars in the electricity sector, 1.35 billion dollars in the gas sector, and 1.7 billion dollars in the oil sector.
Ukraine has made an urgent appeal to its G7 partners to provide equipment for the restoration of the energy system and has reiterated longstanding requests for additional air defense systems to protect energy infrastructure.
Photo: AFP