KIEV, June 13 ??“ UkrTransNafta, Ukraine??™s state oil shipping monopoly that has been authorized by the government to create strategic state reserves of crude oil, will soon buy crude from undisclosed Russian oil companies, an official said.

Yevhen Bakulin, the chairman of Naftogaz Ukrayiny, the national oil and gas company that incorporates UkrTransNafta, said the extra oil imports will be needed to prevent gasoline price hikes.