MOSCOW, December 9. /TASS/. Gazprom has started natural gas supplies to Ukraine, Gazprom spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov said on Tuesday.
“Today, Naftogaz of Ukraine has formalized a request for the delivery of 43.5 million cubic meters of gas to Ukrainian consumers per day. Prepayment for December deliveries was received earlier. From 10:00am Moscow time, Gazprom started to supply gas to Ukraine,” Kupriyanov said.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchishin said Ukraine had paid Gazprom on Friday for the delivery of 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas. “We started gas imports from Monday,” he said.
The Ukrainian national energy company Naftogaz said late on Friday that it had made a prepayment for the December deliveries of Russian natural gas. Gazprom later confirmed it had received of $378 million as prepayment for natural gas supplies.
Under accords reached between Moscow and Kiev, the price of Russian natural gas for Ukraine equals $378 per 1,000 cubic meters in the fourth quarter of 2014. Therefore, Naftogaz of Ukraine made a prepayment for 1 billion cubic meters of gas.
Based on a price discount granted by Gazprom at gas talks between Moscow and Kiev with the EU’s mediation in Brussels on November 30, the price of Russian natural gas supplies equals $378 per 1,000 cubic meters in the fourth quarter of 2014 and $365 in the first quarter of 2015.