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Ukraine to settle natural gas debt to Russia - minister

Alexei Miller said that Kiev had not yet paid 882 million dollars for Russian natural gas

Photo ITAR-TASS

Photo ITAR-TASS

KIEV, October 30 (Itar-Tass) - Ukraine will settle its debt to Russia’s natural gas monopoly Gazprom for gas deliveries, Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Eduard Stavitsky told reporters on Wednesday.

He stressed that Kiev “has always paid (for gas), so it will pay this time.” “Inconsistencies happen sometimes, of course, there may also be the timeline issues. Therefore, there are small payment delays,” the minister explained.

Stavitsky specified that a delegation of Ukraine’s oil and gas company Naftogaz Ukrainy led by the company CEO Yevgeny Bakulin is currently staying in Moscow for gas negotiations. The minister assumed that the negotiations’ results should be expected “today, or tomorrow, at the latest.”

On Tuesday, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said that Kiev had not yet paid 882 million dollars for Russian natural gas supplied in August and that the contract allowed Gazprom to introduce a prepayment system. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev supported the proposal, noting that, apparently, the Ukrainian side was not going to pay.

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