Naftogaz Ukrainy has reduced its August gas debt to Russia's Gazprom from $882 million to $806 million.
“We’ll pay literally everything back to Gazprom. As of today, the
debt is $806 million,” the Ukrainian national oil and gas company’s
deputy CEO, Vadym Chuprun, told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of the
World Economic Forum in Kyiv.
Naftogaz is putting all available resources towards the August debt
repayment, but those payments are being held back by the sluggishness of
Ukraine’s heat utilities sector to repay its own debt to Naftogaz.
Asked when the whole debt to Gazprom might be paid, Chuprun said this
would depend when Naftogaz receives what it is owed. “They’ll pay off
debts to us, even in installments, but such that we can pay Gazprom,
clear that debt for August,” he said, adding that Naftogaz currently
owed debt for August gas supplies alone.
He said no problems paying for gas supplies in October ought to
arise. “As far as we can see so far everything will be okay,” he said.
Gazprom said on November 5 that Ukraine had started to pay off its
$882-million debt for Russian gas, but not very much of it. “Some
payments are coming in, but these are so far drops in the ocean and at
this rate it will be a very long time before it is paid in full,” the
Russian gas giant’s spokesman, Sergei Kupriyanov, told Interfax-Ukraine.
Kupriyanov said that Ukrainian oil and gas company Naftogaz had paid
$50 million on Oct. 30, $9 million on Oct. 31, $10 million on
Nov. 1 and $6.2 million on Nov. 4. More was expected on Nov.
5.
Naftogaz said on November 5 that Ukrainian heat providers and the
state budget owed it Hr 27.7 billion ($3.47 billion) between them.
The heat utilities owe Hr 17 billion, including Hr 15.9 billion for
gas for central heating and hot water supply, and Hr 1.11 billion for
gas used to generate electricity (Hr 7.993/$1).
Also, the Finance Ministry, in line with a government order dated
July 17, 2013, is supposed to draft amendments to the 2013 state budget
to compensate Naftogaz Hr 10.7 billion for the difference between the
cost of purchasing imported gas and selling it to the heat utilities,
but the company has not yet received these funds.
Naftogaz has urged the relevant bodies to take all possible measures to settle the debt for gas.
Energy and Coal Minister Eduard Stavytsky has said the debt recovered
from the heat providers would be one of the sources that fund the
repayment of Naftogaz’s gas debt to Russia’s Gazprom.
