Ukraine got through the winter using domestic gas production only for the first time in history, Naftogaz’s CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov wrote on his Facebook on March 1.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Jan. 31 that despite Russian attacks, Ukraine's energy sector remains stable as the country relies on its own gas this winter season.
"Ten years ago, nobody would believe in it. Two years ago, when the full-scale war began, it was also difficult to believe in it. But we did it, and now we plan to maintain the trend of Ukraine’s energy independence in the future," Chernyshov said.
Naftogaz, Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas giant, has accumulated 14 billion cubic meters of gas reserves by the end of summer 2023 to prepare for the heating season.
Chernyshov told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in October that this number had risen to 16 billion cubic meters, creating a chance to pass the upcoming winter without imported gas.
Despite Russia's full-scale war causing millions in damages to the company's facilities, increasing domestic gas production has long been Naftogaz's goal.
Naftogaz's production branch, Ukrgasvydobuvannya, increased the daily production rate of domestic natural gas by 11% in 2023. This figure has been the biggest since April 2019.
Ukrgasvydobuvannya also hit a record for daily gas production for the first time over the past five years. The company reached 38.54 million cubic meters of commercial gas produced per day, Naftogaz reported in February.
Martin Fornusek
