Ukraine Continues Exceeding Gas Usage Targets

Gas usage in Ukraine in the first ten days of January 2015 exceeded by 23.7% the targets set by the government for industrial consumers, government financed institutions and district heating companies.  

‘Ukrainian industrial consumers, government financed institutions, district heating companies and households used 1.9 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas during the first ten days of January 2015’ reads a note released by Naftogaz on Monday.

Kiev decided in July that industrial consumers, government financed institutions and district heating companies would have worked to decrease their gas usage.  

These three categories exceeded the December targets by 25.6%.  

‘In volume terms, these three categories used 1.01 bcm of gas in the first 10 days of January versus the targeted 819.1 million cubic meters. Households used 914.5 million cubic meters in the first ten days of January’ adds the company.

In September 2014, Naftogaz made clear that it would have increased gas prices to limit demand, with some regional revisions bringing along tripled gas prices. Despite not being part of the government’s policy revision, households were meant to decrease their gas usage too. 

The policies did not live up to expectations. In the first ten days of 2015, households used even more gas than in the same period of 2014. According to the data released by Naftogaz, household consumed 14% more than in the first ten days of 2014. 

The communication could pave the way to price increase in the near future.