Ukraine will repay over $2 billion of debt after the Russian energy company
threatened to cut supplies to Europe earlier this month.
Russia's state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom said Tuesday it agreed to
settle Ukraine's debt for gas supplies, seeming to resolve a dispute that has
raised concerns of a supply cut to Europe and added to the political uncertainty
in Ukraine.
Gazprom said earlier this month that Ukraine owed $1.3 billion, but Russian
Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said Tuesday that Ukraine's debt had climbed to
more than $2 billion.
Ukraine would repay $1.2 billion of the debt by transferring gas from
underground storage facilities in Ukraine to Gazprom for further export, Zubkov
said during a televised meeting with Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych
in Moscow.
The remaining $929 million is to be paid by the companies that supply gas on
the Ukrainian market, he said.
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Gazprom produces half of the gas used by European Union countries, 4/5 of which
passes through Ukrainian pipelines |
Gazprom's threat early this month to reduce
gas supplies to Ukraine if it
fails to pay the debt came as votes were still being counted in Ukraine's tense
parliamentary election and was viewed as a Kremlin attempt to influence the
formation of a governing coalition.
Gazprom supplies gas it buys from Turkmenistan to Ukraine through a
Swiss-based trading company, RosUkrEnergo, half of which is owned by Gazprom and
half by two Ukrainian businessmen.
The agreement to settle the debt by Nov. 1 was signed after talks Monday
between Gazprom's Chief Executive Alexei Miller and Ukraine's Energy Minister
Yuri Boiko, Gazprom said.
It stipulates that the first payment of $200 million is to be made by Oct. 22
to RosUkrEnergo, a statement from RosUkrEnergo said.
The underground storage facilities from which the gas is to be transferred to
Gazprom also are owned by RosUkrEnergo.
Both Gazprom and Ukraine have said the dispute would not disrupt Russian gas
exports to the European Union, as happened in early 2006, when Gazprom cut off
supplies to Ukraine in a pricing dispute. EU officials, however, have voiced
strong concerns and urged the parties to quickly reach agreement.
Sources: http://www.ap.org/
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