Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev met on 20 May with US Energy Secretary Rick Perry to discuss possible shipments of American Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to Ukraine, Naftogaz announced on its official website.

“During the meeting, special attention was devoted to ways to prepare Ukraine to pass the next autumn-winter heating season, and to finance and develop adequate gas reserves in underground reservoirs. Another topic of discussion was the project to create a reliable way to import LNG through the regasification terminal in Poland,” the company’s press service noted.

Ukraine currently imports piped gas from Europe, since the gas supply from Russia has been suspended since 25 November 2015. In 2018, the country imported 6.46 billion cubic meters of gas from Slovakia, 3.43 billion from Hungary and 695.1 million from Poland.

At the start of May, Kobolyev said that Ukraine was close to signing a contract to buy LNG from the US.

The US has recently become one of Europe’s chief suppliers of LNG. Over the last year, the shipments of American LNG to Europe have increased dramatically. Whereas in January 2018, the EU imported 102 million cubic meters of LNG from the US, 1.3 billion cubic meters – more than ten times as much – was imported in January 2019.

Since the start of 2019, the US has accounted for 12.6% of the EU’s LNG imports, making it the third largest supplier.

  Ukraine, Naftogaz, Kobolyev, Zelensky, USA, Rick Perry

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