KIEV, Oct. 2 - Ukraine’s imports of natural gas from Europe in September increased to 986 million cubic meters, up from 343 million cu m in September 2013 and up from 249 million cu m imported in August, UkrTransGaz, the state gas shipper, reported Thursday.

Ukraine on September 2 started massive imports of gas from Slovakia via Vojany-Uzhgorod pipeline with a total capacity of about 10 billion cu m of gas annually. The supplies via Slovakia are enough to cover 40% of the country’s overall gas import demand, according to UkrTransGaz.