Ukraine’s Naftogaz will purchase 100mn cubic metres of LNG from Poland’s Orlen, Ukraine’s biggest state-owned energy firm announced on March 7.

The LNG will be transported from cargoes delivered to the LNG import terminal located in Klaipeda, Lithuania. The super-chilled fuel will then be transported through Lithuania and Poland before it reaches Ukraine via the Drozdovychi interconnector.

Additionally, the two companies signed a strategic cooperation document on LNG supply.

“Our relationship will be based on commercial terms, but securing an additional gas source is also crucial for Ukraine’s security,” Orlen’s vice president Robert Soszynski said in a statement.

For Ukraine, it marks the latest announcement of an LNG supply deal as the country seeks to shore up gas supplies with Russia continuing to target the country’s energy grid in its invasion of Ukraine.

Naftogaz had its production facilities damaged in the Poltava Oblast following a combined missile and drone attack on February 11, The Kyiv Independent reported. In February, Ukraine’s gas production plummeted 40% due to Russian strikes on its energy infrastructure.

“Partnering with Orlen strengthens energy security, diversifies supply routes, and accelerates Ukraine's integration into the European gas market,” Naftogaz CEO Roman Chumak said in a statement.

Earlier in March, the CEO of DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy firm, revealed that the company is in talks with a number of potential suppliers for a two-year LNG import contract, with a deal expected to be inked before the end of April.

Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine’s domestic gas industry produced about 52 mcm of gas per day, roughly half the 110-140 mcm the country requires during winter due to heating.

According to Bloomberg, Ukraine plans to import approximately 3.5bn cubic metres of gas in this heating season. It marks a five-fold increase from the 700 mcm Kyiv purchased for the entire heating season last year.