Naftogaz Group has contracted 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas since the beginning of the year: 800 million cubic meters were urgently imported at the beginning of the year, 400 million cubic meters will be delivered to Ukraine in preparation for the next winter, and another 300 million cubic meters of LNG were purchased by Naftogaz from Polish ORLEN.
“During the first quarter, Naftogaz managed to attract about EUR 430 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Government of the Kingdom of Norway, which will soon be used to purchase 1 billion cubic meters of imported natural gas,” said Roman Chumak, acting Chairman of the Board of Naftogaz of Ukraine. Roman Chumak, quoted by the group’s press service in a message on the Telegram channel.
According to him, the company is also negotiating with the government and international financial institutions to raise funding in the amount of EUR 1 billion to purchase more than 2 billion cubic meters of gas.
As reported with reference to the former head of the Ukrainian Gas Transmission System Operator (GTSOU), Serhiy Makohon, Ukraine, given its own production volumes, needs to import 5.5-6.3 bcm of gas by the start of the heating season on November 1, 2025, which will require approximately $2.5-3 billion. According to his estimates, by the beginning of the next heating season, it is necessary to have at least 9 bcm of reserves in the UGS facilities (without buffer gas), as this year’s experience has shown that starting the season with lower reserves is extremely risky.
In his turn, Dmytro Abramovich, a member of the Board and Commercial Director of Naftogaz Group, said in late March that Ukraine needs to import 4.5-4.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas by November 1 this year.
According to Makohon, the guaranteed capacity for gas imports is approximately 50 million cubic meters per day, so it will take three months to import 4.6 billion cubic meters of gas, and 5.6-6.3 billion cubic meters in 4 months, and this is at 100% utilization, which is commercially difficult to achieve.
Thus, he believes that in order to import the necessary volumes by November 1, it is necessary to start importing significant volumes of gas in May.
The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, who has been heading the Holy See since 2013, died on Monday morning, the Vatican press service reports on Facebook.
“It is with deep sadness that I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 a.m. today, Bishop Francis of Rome returned to the Father’s house,” said Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Holy Roman Church’s chamberlain.
Beer production in Ukraine in January-March 2025 amounted to 29 million dal, up 6.9% year-on-year, according to the website of the industry organization Ukrpyvo.
“The expert estimate of beer production in Ukraine (except for non-alcoholic beer with an alcohol content of up to 0.5 vol%) for the first three months of 2025 is 29 million dal, which is 106.9% compared to the same period in 2024. At the same time, this figure is only 85% of the production volume for the first three months of 2021,” the statement said.
As reported, beer production in Ukraine in 2024 increased by 4.8% to 140 million dal compared to the previous year, in 2023 it was 7.8% higher than in 2022. At the same time, in 2022, beer production fell by 27.9% compared to 2021 – to 122.8 million dal.
Ukraine has received the last 20 out of 200 KIA BONGO ambulances as part of a humanitarian donation from the Government of the Republic of Korea.
According to the Ministry of Health, the total cost of all the vehicles donated in cooperation between the Korean Embassy in Ukraine and the Ministry of Health is over $12 million.
The donated vehicles are fully equipped with modern medical equipment necessary to save patients’ lives at the scene and during transportation to medical facilities. Each vehicle is equipped with defibrillator monitors, oxygen supply systems, trauma equipment, stretchers and emergency medicines.
The Ministry of Health emphasizes that since the beginning of the war, the enemy has destroyed or damaged more than 600 ambulances in Ukraine.
In total, thanks to the support of international partners, Ukraine has already received more than 1,500 ambulances, 73 of which are armored.
The renewal of the ambulance fleet began in 2020-2021, even before the full-scale invasion: 895 ambulances were purchased at the expense of the state budget. They ensured the stable operation of the system in the first difficult months of the war.
The Ministry of Health reminds that Ukrainian medical institutions have recently received 100 modern ultrasound diagnostic systems and 30 mobile X-ray fluoroscopic systems from the Government of the Republic of Korea as part of humanitarian aid.