MOSCOW, March 6 – The European Union should assume some of the costs of filling underground gas storage facilities in Ukraine if it wants to safeguard itself against a worst-case scenario in the winter, Energy and Coal Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn told The Wall Street Journal.

The EU estimates that Ukrainian storage facilities need to hold about 20 billion cubic meters of gas in order to guarantee stable gas supplies to Europe during the cold season, and gas purchases for this purpose should already begin in April. Demchyshyn believes it would be sufficient to store up 14 bcm-15 bcm.