If no special circumstances appear with regard to natural gas supplies, the European Union should get through the upcoming winter without significant problems, announced European Commissioner for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič at the ninth annual Central European Energy Conference 2015 (CEEC) on Monday. He confirmed that Ukraine has been filling its gas reservoirs more slowly than last year. "By the end of October it was expected that there would be about 17 billion cubic metres of gas, but I have to examine the current exact numbers. The reserves of gas in Ukrainian reservoirs are currently a bit smaller than in the past", said Šefčovič.
According to Šefčovič, it's very important for Ukraine to continue with reforms in the sphere of energy. "We're cooperating with Ukraine to adopt laws that would be compatible with European legislation ... The reform process and consolidation in the energy and gas sector could help Ukraine to pave the way for further investment", said Šefčovič. He also pointed out that Ukraine has underground storage capacities for natural gas that are very near EU borders. "In the future, these could be used for increasing Europe's energy security", he said.
