KIEV, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine has more than halved its natural gas imports in the first quarter of 2018 due to the relatively warm weather, local media reported on Monday, citing a report of the state-run gas network operator Ukratransgaz.
According to the report, Ukraine imported some 1.8 billion cubic meters of gas in the January-March period of this year, compared with 4.2 billion cubic meters in the same period of 2017.
In the first three months of 2018, Ukraine purchased 1.3 billion cubic meters of gas from Slovakia, while the rest imports came from Hungary and Poland, the report said.
Since the start of the heating season in mid-October 2017, Ukraine used 9.3 billion cubic meters of gas from its underground storage facilities or 54.7 percent of the overall gas stocks. The heating season in Ukraine ends in mid-April.
Last year, the country consumed 32.2 billion cubic meters of gas, of which 14.05 billion cubic meters were imported from abroad.
