KIEV, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine plans to launch a major energy efficiency project in April 2017 aimed at easing the country's dependence on imported natural gas, Deputy Prime Minister Gennady Zubko announced on Tuesday.
"We have a potential to reduce the annual gas consumption by 11.4 billion cubic meters and turn from gas importer to gas exporter," Zubko said during a forum on energy efficiency in Kiev.
Under the project, the Ukrainian government will modernize the country's heating infrastructure and provide incentives to people for carrying out heat insulations of their houses, Zubko said.
As a part of its energy conservation measures, Ukraine also plans to introduce an accounting system of energy consumption by the end of the next year and develop alternative energy sources, he added.
Last year, Ukraine consumed 33.7 billion cubic meters of gas, of which 16.4 billion cubic meters were imported from aboard.
