Ukraine halves gas imports due to decreased consumption

Ukraine has almost halved its natural gas imports in January through October of 2016 mainly as a result of decreased consumption, official data showed Wednesday.

In the first ten months of the current year, Ukraine purchased some 7.872 billion cubic meters of gas from abroad compared with 14.9 billion cubic meters in the same period a year ago, said Ukratransgaz, the state-run gas network operator.

In October alone, the country's gas imports stood at 1.544 billion cubic meters, edging down by 36 percent year-on-year.

The East European country reduced its gas consumption mainly because increased gas prices have forced households to use gas sparingly or replace it with cheaper coal.

The pace of consuming gas in the industry has also been slow as the sector is still recovering from more than two years of recession.

To reduce its gas usage, Ukraine is also implementing a number of energy-saving programs, carrying out heat insulations of buildings and introducing renewable energy sources in the country's energy mix. Endit