Year to year Ukraine reduces natural gas consumption - by about 10% per annum. This is due to the energy efficiency of Ukrainian households and, partly, due to warm winters. If the Government program to increase domestic gas production 20/20 is properly executed by the state-run company Ukrgazvydobuvannia, Ukraine will be able to abandon import gas in the near future and provide the population and DHP (district heating providers) with domestic energy resources. Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Kistion was quoted as saying.

According to him, the dependence of the Ukrainian economy on gas imports remains persistently high, with a gas shortage of about 10-12 billion cubic meters per annum.

The Vice Prime Minister reminded that the Government had adopted a comprehensive program for the development of Ukraine's gas industry, and back in 2016 had set an objective for Ukrgasvydobuvannia to provide as soon as possible the population and DHP with domestic gas.

The Roadmap for conducting international oil and gas auctions has also been approved, and its implementation is paving the way for the cutting-edge gas production technologies coming to Ukraine and providing businesses, both Ukrainian and international, with equal and transparent conditions of competition.

"The Government, for its part, has provided every opportunity for Ukrgaszydobuvannia, which owns 45% (415 bn cubic meters from over 924 bn cubic meters) of all verified natural gas reserves in Ukraine, to work efficiently and responsibly. However, today, unfortunately, the volumes of drilling in 2018 do not provide the planned volumes of gas extraction, defined by the Government program of gas production 20/20", stresses Volodymyr Kistion.

The Vice Prime Minister adds that encouraging for an effective activity for a state-owned company should be a shared mission: in a few years Ukraine should get energy independence and self-sustainability.

"Ukrgazvydobuvannia possesses huge potential, sufficient resources. It is crucial to focus on the task set by the Government and accelerate measures to intensify production, which produce faster and well-timed results: more wells, more hydraulic fracturing operations, more booster pump stations - more commercial gas", the Vice Prime Minister summed up.