Kiev must prepay for gas
Russia will require Ukraine to pay in advance for gas starting in June, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said late on Thursday after Kiev failed to pay for gas deliveries.
Gazprom said on Wednesday that Ukraine's payments for gas supplies in April had come due and that nothing had been paid, raising Kiev's total debt for Russian gas to $3.51 billion.
"According to contract, ... failure of obligations automatically leads to a switch to prepayment for gas deliveries for Ukraine starting from June 1," Novak said in a statement on Thursday.
Russia had threatened to cut gas supplies to Ukraine in June if it receives no prepayment by the end of May. Gazprom supplies about 30 percent of the gas consumed in Europe, shipping about half of that via Ukraine.
The Kremlin has often used its energy dominance as a tool of foreign policy, cutting off supplies to Ukraine and Europe in 2005 and 2009 after price disputes with an earlier pro-Western government in what became known as the "gas wars".
This week, Ukraine received a first tranche worth about $3.2 billion from a $17 billion two-year aid program from the International Monetary Fund, which Moscow hopes Kiev will use to cover its gas debt.
Reuters
(China Daily 05/10/2014 page8)
