Decided to save on gas: Popenko named the real reason for the school closures.

The energy specialist revealed the real reason for the school closures due to 'flu epidemic'

Energy expert Oleg Popenko stated that the mass closure of schools in six regions of Ukraine due to an alleged flu and ARVI epidemic is actually related to the critical situation with gas reserves.

'The state apparatus will always find a way to solve gas problems at our expense. They sent children on forced vacations due to the flu and ARVI, although all of this has nothing to do with diseases,' Popenko wrote on his Telegram channel.

According to him, the real reason is that 'Naftogaz messed up the preparation for the heating season and could not (or did not want to) calculate the reserves and gas consumption.'

The expert emphasized that the situation with gas in Ukraine is catastrophic - there is not enough of it, it is very expensive on the Amsterdam markets, and the EU is facing its own problems due to low gas storage levels.

Popenko's words can be supplemented with data released by Serhiy Makogon. According to him, on February 7, gas reserves crossed a critical mark of 10% and amount to 2.95 billion m3. This is a historical minimum not only for the current date but for all previous winters.

'During frosts, consumption increases significantly, and therefore it will be necessary to withdraw up to 80-90 million m3 from the gas storage facilities, which means that the remaining gas will last for a shorter period of Time,' Makogon warned.