MOSCOW--Russia's natural gas monopoly OAO Gazprom said Friday it
has received $15 million from Ukraine as a prepayment for gas
delivery and will ship 68.9 million cubic meters of gas to the
neighboring country.
Ukraine's national gas company Naftogaz had accused Gazprom of
not delivering the amount of gas Ukraine had paid for.
Gazprom said on Thursday it may compromise on Kiev's gas supply
to the rebel-held regions in eastern Ukraine, but has threatened to
cut off gas delivery to Ukraine if it doesn't pay in advance.
Until now Moscow insisted that it is Ukraine's responsibility to
supply gas to the territories controlled by the Russia-backed
insurgents, which Kiev refuses to do.
Earlier this week Gazprom said that supplies to the European
Union were at "serious risk" after it said Ukraine had failed to
make a payment for new shipments. Meanwhile, Ukraine's Naftogaz has
accused Gazprom of not following through with prepaid
deliveries.
officials from Russia and Ukraine said they will attend a
trilateral meeting with the European Commission in Brussels on
March 2 on the issue of gas supply.
Gazprom switched to a system of prepayment for gas deliveries to
Ukraine last spring after negotiations with the new Ukrainian
government on pricing collapsed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia may
halt supplies of natural gas to Ukraine if Kiev doesn't proceed
with prepayment, which in turn may threaten gas deliveries to
Europe.
Write to Alexander Kolyandr at alexander.kolyandr@wsj.com
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