Ukraine may stop importing Russian gas by 2016 – Poroshenko

BEREZHANY, Ternopol region. April 27 (Interfax) – Ukraine will start receiving reverse gas as early as October 2014, and will stop importing Russian gas after 2015, said independent parliamentary deputy and presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko.

“We have negotiated an agreement and we will start receiving reverse gas from Slovakia in October, giving up Russian gas,” he told residents of the town of Berezhany in the Ternopol region on Sunday.

The European Union must help Ukraine get reverse gas, which is going to be $100 less expensive per 1,000 cubic meters, he said.

Poroshenko also said that Ukraine has ample capabilities to extract its own gas, including shale gas. “The year 2015 may be the last year for Ukraine’s imports of Russian gas, I think. We don’t need this gas. We will do every well without it,” he said.

“A strong and real leadership can demonstrate not only political, but also economic independence,” Poroshenko said.

[featured images are file photos]