Losing Russian gas supply, Ukraine struggles before winter, a European country injects 'hemostatic medicine'

After refusing to renew its transit agreement with Gazprom in January this year, Ukraine lost its transit fee revenue and was also completely cut off from Russian gas. (Source: Asia Times)

The Norwegian government has approved a financial package worth 1 billion kroner ($98.3 million) for Ukraine to buy gas, said Sergey Koretsky, CEO of the national energy corporation Naftogaz.

According to Mr. Koretsky, this money will be used for imports in the next few months, before the harsh cold season begins.

"The loan from Norway will help strengthen the energy security of the Eastern European country," Mr. Koretsky wrote on his personal Telegram account.

This is considered one of Oslo's important moves to maintain energy stability for Kiev, in the context that Ukraine has completely lost the ability to transit Russian gas to Europe since the beginning of this year.

According to energy consultancy EXPRO, gas reserves in Ukraine's underground storage facilities are currently at only 32.3% of capacity, equivalent to about 10 billion cubic meters, the lowest in the past 12 years.

Ukraine's Energy Ministry said that to get through the winter safely, the country needs at least 13.2 billion cubic meters of gas to be stored before November 1.

This means that in the next 3 months, Ukraine needs to import about 1.7 billion cubic meters of gas.

After refusing to extend the transit agreement with Gazprom in January this year, Kiev lost its transit fee revenue and was also completely cut off from Russian gas.

According to observers, the $98.3 million package from Norway is a temporary "healing medicine".

If this winter is harsh, the Eastern European country could still face a serious gas shortage, forcing it to allocate energy according to priority, greatly affecting people's lives and industrial activities.