MOSCOW, September 2. /ITAR-TASS/. Ukraine pumped 755 million cubic meters of gas into its underground storage facilities in August, raising the volume of stored gas to 15.657 billion cubic meters as of August 31, according to the data provided by the GSE association on Tuesday.

Ukraine’s underground storage facilities are now 49.18% loaded.

Ukraine pumps gas, which it receives in a reverse mode from Europe and produces locally.

In August, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Ukraine must pump up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas more into its storages to ensure flawless supplies to the E.U. during the winter season, raising the volume of stored gas to about 25.5 billion cubic meters.

Ukraine has 12 underground gas storages with a total capacity of around 31 billion cubic meters.

In June, Gazprom switched Ukraine off gas over unpaid debt while continuing pumping gas to the E.U.