MOSCOW, Aug. 27 - Naftogaz Ukrayiny’s imports of gas from Russia's Gazprom have been sharply higher since the middle of last week, according to operational data from Russia's Central Dispatching Department of the Fuel and Energy Complex (CDU TEK).

Imports jumped to 123.5 million cubic meters on August 24, the highest daily total since February 2012.

If that level holds until the end of the month, Naftogaz imports from Gazprom in August will total 2.3 billion cubic meters.

Naftogaz's imports of Russian gas averaged 46 million cubic meters per day in July, rising to 60 million cubic meters per day in the first 20 days of August.