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Ukraine reduces gas consumption by 15 percent in 2012: minister

19 October 2012 20:37 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Ukraine reduced its natural gas consumption by around 15 percent so far this year in a bid to tackle high prices that may hurt the country’s budget, Energy Minister Yuriy Boyko said Friday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"This year we have managed to save around 1.8 billion U.S. dollars by converting almost all the country’s thermal power plants to coal-firing," Boyko said during a briefing here.

Ukraine is also seeking to further reduce gas consumption by 12 percent next year, Boyko said.

Struggling to ease its dependence on expensive Russian natural gas, Ukraine will also develop domestic gas production and increase the share of coal and atomic power in the country’s energy mix, he said.

Ukraine has been negotiating for around two years for lower prices for Russian gas, which cost 432 U.S. dollars per 1,000 cubic meters in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Ukraine aims to produce around 21 billion cubic meters of gas and 85 million tons of coal annually in the next few years.