Moscow - Ukraine has confirmed that it has the funds to pay for 4 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas supplies, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said during a governmental meeting.
“Ukraine has confirmed it has funds to pay for gas supplies of 4 billion cubic meters,” he said.
“Together with the European Commission, they worked on this issue over the week with the National Bank of Ukraine and international financial organizations [IMG, EBRD, etc.] and have at least said officially that they are ready to buy 4 billion cubic meters of gas in an advance payment regime. This means base conditions have been reached in order to resume gas shipments to Ukraine in the winter period,” Novak said.
He added that one of the main conditions for resolving the issue was settling part of Ukraine’s debt for gas supplied in November-December 2013 and April-June 2014. “According to agreements, a portion of debt totaling $3.1 billion will be paid by the end of the year. Ukraine will pay $1.45 billion in the coming days before current shipments start in November, and the remaining portion by the end of December,” he said.
