By Olga Razumovskaya

MOSCOW--Ukraine is buying Russian gas again and has stopped taking gas from its underground storage facilities, the chief executive of the Russian state gas major OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) Alexei Miller said Friday.

Ukraine said earlier this week that it had stopped taking gas from Gazprom at the start of November because it had sufficient supplies until the end of the year.

Ukraine owes Russia $1.3 billion for gas deliveries, and a senior Gazprom executive said Thursday the company is considering granting the country an extension on payments.

Tensions between Ukraine and Russia over gas have intensified sharply in recent weeks, raising concerns of a repeat of supply problems that disrupted winter deliveries to Europe in 2006 and 2009. Russia accounts for one-quarter of Europe's gas needs, the bulk of which flows via Ukraine.

Write to Olga Razumovskaya at olga.razumovskaya@wsj.com

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