OREANDA-NEWS Europe can substitute billions of cubic meters of gas supplied from Russia with the help of electricity imports from Ukraine, Yuriy Vitrenko, the head of the Ukrainian Naftogaz, said in an interview for Bloomberg.

In his opinion, the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States will not be able to help Europe abandon fuel from Russia in the short term. "But it is possible with a combination of measures, such as energy efficiency, switching to some other energy sources (even temporarily to coal, atom, for example), the export of electricity from Ukraine, which can replace up to 10 billion cubic meters of Russian gas", Vitrenko said.

In addition, the head of Naftogaz suggested that Europe accept imports from other partners. According to Vitrenko, gas supplies from the Middle East, from new countries such as Iraq, for example, can completely replace the import of Russian fuel. In 2021, total EU imports from Russia exceeded 150 billion cubic meters of gas, including LNG, according to the International Energy Agency.

In the coming years, the bloc is going to completely abandon supplies, but for now it only intends to reduce their volume. Vitrenko explained that Ukraine itself can buy gas from the United States for the next heating season, and relevant negotiations are already underway. The country is preparing to purchase up to $8 billion worth of gas abroad. The question is not only about supplies, but also about their financing.