BRUSSELS, May 05. /ITAR-TASS/. Two next rounds of gas tripartite talks between energy chiefs of Russia, Ukraine and the European Union will be held in mid- and late May, a spokesperson of EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger said on Monday.

Earlier, Russia’s national gas utility Gazprom has pledged it was not planning to demand advance payment from Ukraine for gas supplies in April, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told a news conference on Friday after talks with Ukraine’s parliament-appointed Minister of Energy Yuriy Prodan and European Commissioner for Energy Gunter Oettinger.

“Today, we took a decision that Gazprom will not demand advance payment in April,” he said. “May 16 is the date when a bill for gas supplies in June will be issued. They will have a time span till May 31 to pay it. If the bill is not paid till that date, Gazprom will have a possibility to limit gas supplies or to supply as much gas as is paid for till May 3,” 

Gazprom is seriously worried over the lack of guarantees that Ukraine would pump enough gas to its underground storage facilities to ensure uninterrupted gas supplies to European consumer in the winter period, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told journalists on Friday.

“Ukraine has provided no guarantees that it would store enough gas at its underground storage facilities for the next heating season. Hence, it has provided no guarantees of uninterrupted gas transit to European consumers,” Miller stressed.

The European Commission intends to give financial assistance to Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz Ukraine.