Since the beginning of the current injection season on April 17, Ukraine has injected more than 1 bcm of natural gas into its underground gas storage facilities (UGS), according to ExPro data.
From April 17 to May 24, 2025, a total of 1.06 bcm of gas was injected into storage, already exceeding last year’s volumes, when 1.03 bcm was injected from March 31 to May 24, 2024.
This year’s injection season started later due to colder weather in early April and damage to domestic gas production caused by intense Russian attacks in February and March. Although Ukraine has been actively restoring damaged gas production infrastructure in May, output has yet to return to the January level of 54 mcm per day.
In May 2025 alone, nearly 800 mcm of gas was injected into storage, 40% more than during the same period last year. Injection volumes continue to rise, reaching 47 mcm on May 24, the highest daily injection level in over 1.5 years since October 2023.
Natural gas injections into Ukrainian storages
Gas imports
A rise in gas imports primarily leads to an increase in gas injection volumes. In recent days, gas imports to Ukraine have exceeded 20 mcm per day, the highest level since February 2025.
In February, Ukraine imported 512 mcm of gas to urgently cover demand following a collapse in domestic production due to Russian attacks, compounded by cold weather and low storage levels.
Who is importing gas?
According to ExPro, Naftogaz of Ukraine remains the main gas importer in May. However, the first private companies have also begun importing small volumes, preparing for a potential full-scale return of commercial imports if domestic prices significantly exceed European ones.
Where is the gas coming from?
Most of the imported gas currently comes from Hungary, which offers the lowest-cost route, around 9.1 mcm per day. Additionally, 5.9 mcm per day is imported from Poland. Both the Hungarian and Polish routes are being used at almost full guaranteed capacity for entry points to Ukraine’s transmission system. These two routes are also nearly fully booked for gas imports in the coming months.
Natural gas imports to Ukraine
Gas imports from Slovakia
With the Hungarian and Polish routes fully utilized, Ukraine resumed imports from Slovakia in mid-May. Although the Slovak route is more expensive, it offers the highest guaranteed entry capacity - 42 mcm per day, compared to 9.76 mcm from Hungary and 5.15 mcm from Poland.
Slovak import volumes have gradually increased from 0.4 mcm on May 15 to 5.2 mcm on May 25. The Slovak route remains one of the few options for significantly increasing gas imports in the coming months.
Gas imports from Romania?
Given that the Hungarian and Polish routes are already at maximum capacity and the Slovak route may face supply constraints, Ukraine is considering another option — importing gas via the Vertical Corridor. This initiative by European TSOs aims to increase northbound gas flows from countries like Greece to Ukraine. Currently, the route remains unused, mainly due to high transportation costs.
However, the Gas TSOs of Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece have launched a new product, ROUT1, with transportation tariffs reduced by 25%. If approved by national regulators, the lower tariffs could enable increased imports through the Trans-Balkan route.
Gas storage levels
As of May 24, gas reserves in Ukraine’s storage facilities reached 6.46 bcm, according to ExPro. This is the lowest storage level for this date in at least 11 years. However, the gap compared to last year is narrowing due to increased injection volumes. Current storage levels are 29% (or 2.6 bcm) below those of last year.
Natural gas reserves in Ukrainian UGS
This volume includes all gas in storage — buffer gas, long-term active gas, and gas located in temporarily occupied territories. As of May 24, the volume of active gas available for use stood at 1.72 bcm.
Preparing for the upcoming Winter
Ukraine continues to prepare for the next heating season by accumulating gas in storage. The target level for November 1 remains unclear. Last year, Ukraine had 12.92 bcm of gas in storage by November 1 (the start of the withdrawal season).
To reach this level again, Ukraine must inject more than 6.4 bcm between June and October, roughly the current volume already in storage.
Part of this will come from domestic production, but the rest must be imported. According to ExPro estimates, Ukraine will need to import 2.8–3.8 bcm of gas during this period to reach last year’s level. However, to ensure a safer winter, at least 13–13.5 bcm of gas should be accumulated, requiring even higher import volumes from Europe.
Where to find natural gas market analytics?
Detailed analytics of the natural gas market in Ukraine, including production, imports, exports, UGS reserves, trading results, natural gas prices, key news, etc., are published in specialized publications ExPro Daily Gas, ExPro Gas&Oil Weekly, and ExPro Gas&Oil Monthly.
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Михайло Свищо