Suspension of gas transit to Europe through Ukrainian territory has deprived Ukraine of a direct source of foreign currency totaling about $100 million, and the country's chemical and metallurgical industries are at a standstill, former fuel and energy minister Yuriy Boiko said on Thursday.
“In the domestic market, while Ukraine needs 310 million cubic meters [of gas] a day, 230 is supplied, and so all industrial enterprises that belong to the chemical or metallurgical sectors have been brought to a standstill,” Boiko, who is now shadow fuel and energy minister, told reporters.
The pressure in pipelines supplying gas for the metallurgical industry is down to 2.5 atmospheres, Boiko said.
No gas is being supplied for Bulgaria, Greece, Slovakia or Serbia while Germany, France and Italy are receiving gas from German and Austrian underground depots, he said.
