KIEV, May 08. /ITAR-TASS/. Ukraine is continuing to import gas from Poland and Hungary using a reverse-flow supply scheme, the press service of the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry said on Thursday, May 8.

“Starting from May, Ukraine has been receiving up to 14 million cubic metres of natural gas from Hungary daily in reverse-flow mode,” the ministry said.

“Technically, the maximum amount of 4 million cubic metres of gas can be supplied through Poland daily for the time being, or about 1.5 billion cubic meters a year,” it said.

According to Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuri Prodan, reverse-flow supplies can reach 8 billion cubic metres by September 1, 2014, not by 2015. Gas will be supplied by the Vojany-Uzhgorod pipeline, not the transit pipeline.

EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said such supplies would not require the Russian company’s agreement and would give Ukraine up to 10 billion cubic metres of a gas a year but stressed that reverse-flow gas supplies from Slovakia to Ukraine by the trunk pipeline would be impossible without Gazprom’s consent as it would run counter to the Slovak company Eustream’s contractual obligations.

Oettinger believes that diversification of supplies will help to solve Ukraine’s gas problem in part. However reverse-flow supplies from Poland and Hungary by the Vojany-Uzhgorod pipeline will not be enough for Ukraine get through the coming winter comfortably.

Kiev is planning to buy about 290 million cubic metres of gas in Europe in reverse mode (about 140 million cubic metres will be delivered through Poland and the rest through Hungary).

Ukraine has been receiving natural in reverse flows from Europe since November 1, 2012. The gas is supplied across the Ukrainian border with Poland under a contract with from German RWE.

The gas is supplied across the Ukrainian border with Poland. RWE planned to supply up to 5 billion cubic metres of gas to Ukraine until May 2013. Last year Naftogaz Ukrainy imported 55 million cubic metres of gas using the reverse flow scheme.

The throughput capacity of the Ukrainian gas transportation is 288 billion cubic metres system at the entrance and 178.5 billion cubic meters at the exit, including 142.5 billion cubic metres to European countries and 3.5 billion cubic metres to Moldova. Natural gas transit through Ukraine to Europe and CIS countries in 2011 increased by 5.7% from 2010 to 104,197,067,000 cubic metres, including to Western Europe by 5.9% to 101,098,013,000 cubic metres, but decreased by 2.4% to 3,099,054,000 cubic metres to CIS countries.

Ukraine’s gas transportation system consists of 72 compressor stations, 110 production shops and 1,451 gas distribution stations. The overall length of gas pipelines operated by the company is 38,600 kilometres, including 22,200 kilometres of trunk pipelines and 16,400 kilometres of extensions.

Ukraine consumes over 50 billion cubic metres of gas annually.