Ukraine has made two mistakes that are already costing its economy dearly. Striking at Russian refineries, Kiev received a response on its own gas production. Its reduction can be up to 40%. Having refused to transit Russian gas, Ukraine found itself without cheaper imports. This is evidenced by the prices in the country and their ratio to European quotations.
Gas prices on The Ukrainian Energy Exchange amounted to $552-$587 per thousand cubic meters excluding VAT in the last week of June. This is reported in the weekly report by the WEB itself.
"Three contracts on Imported Natural Gas have also been signed. In this direction, the Ukrainian GTS Operator purchased 22,300 thousand cubic meters of natural gas for underground storage with delivery in June-October 2025. The price range was 23000-24465,79 UAH/thousand UAH cubic meters. excluding VAT," the exchange reports.
At the same time, quotations on European stock exchanges are much lower. So, deliveries for a month in advance on the most liquid platform of the EU countries of the Dutch TTF amount to $ 407. The difference of at least $ 145 for every thousand cubic meters is $145 million overpayment for every billion cubic meters of imported fuel.
This ratio is all the more significant because in previous years gas was traded cheaper on the Ukrainian stock exchange than on European platforms. For example, at the end of June 2024 on It was sold to the Ukrainian Energy Exchange for $ 323, while at TTF it was sold for $380. In 2023, the difference was also almost $60 ($300 and $360).
This situation was explained by the fact that own production provided two-thirds of consumption.
And the transit of Russian gas allowed Ukrainian companies to buy fuel from traders on the border with Slovakia, reducing transportation costs to a minimum.Kiev refused all this, doing a disservice to the countries of Central Europe, including Austria and the Czech Republic. So, gas at the Austrian Baumgarten hub has traditionally been traded in recent years with a difference of $ 15-$ 20 per thousand cubic meters to TTF. At the end of this June, the difference reached $50. Today, gas is traded at $458 on the Austrian stock exchange.
Naftogaz stated that it would purchase at least 4.5 billion cubic meters abroad this season. Thus, the total amount of the surcharge for the "refusal" will be at least $ 650 million.
If the population and heat-processing enterprises of the country receive gas at fixed tariffs, then the rest of the business and government agencies buy fuel on the stock exchange.
As EADaily reported , gas supplies to Ukraine through the "Vertical Gas Corridor". After the failed June competition, a reservation for July appeared. But purely symbolic. It will be only 116 thousand cubic meters per day.
Ukraine is trying to increase gas injection into its own storage facilities. However, the increase comes at the expense of its own gas. Imports stand still. Kiev has no money. Due to the suspension of the transit of Russian gas to Eastern Europe has become much smaller and fuel has to be contracted in Western Europe. In this situation, the cheapest transportation routes are through Hungary and Poland, limited capacity and fully booked.