Kiev expects the first supplies of liquefied natural gas at the start of 2015, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said during a presentation of Ukrainian national projects in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday.
"We expect the first liquefied gas to arrive in Ukraine at the start of 2015. We hope that one of the important suppliers will be Qatar," he said.
Yanukovych added that a project to build an LNG terminal in Ukraine is "being successfully implemented," Interfax reported.
He also said a consortium is being formed to implement the project. Construction on the terminal commenced Monday. Yanukovych was in Qatar on an official visit Tuesday and Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said at a government meeting Wednesday that Ukraine might receive products at the LNG terminal at half the price of Russian gas, which is pumped into the country via pipeline.
He also described the development of the terminal as a serious step toward Ukraine's energy independence, saying that when the terminal is up and running at full capacity, Ukraine could receive more than 10 billion cubic meters a year via the terminal.
"That is almost half the volume that we receive from Russia annually," Azarov said.
Furthermore, he proposed that Ukrainian corporations invest in the construction of the LNG terminal.
