KIEV, Aug. 18 – Ukraine imported natural gas from Europe at the price of around $255 per 1,000 cubic meters in August, Energy and Coal Industry Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn said.

"In theory we could pump [gas] without Russia at the price of $255 – we pay this price for reverse gas. This is $1.2 billion, and we don't have it now," he said in an inter view with the Tyzhden weekly.

He said that the refusal of Ukraine to buy natural gas from Russia at $247.17 per 1,000 cubic meters in the third quarter is linked not only with the fact that the price of gas should be smaller thanks to smaller expenses incurred while transporting Russian gas to Ukraine, but also with the fact that Russia was not ready to agree to the conditions of gas supplies for the whole 2015/16 heating season.