MOSCOW, July 08./ITAR-TASS/. Ukrainian debt for Russian gas has reached $5.296 billion, Russian energy giant Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller stated.

Ukrainian state-run oil and gas company Naftogaz did not pay for gas supplies in first 15 days of June, though the company should have done it no later than on July 7, business news agency Bloomberg reported. Naftogaz did not make payments, because the company disagreed with the gas price set by Russian energy giant Gazprom, official of the Ukrainian company Alena Osmolovskaya said by phone.

Ukraine has imported 1.7 billion cubic metres of Russian gas worth $838 million in June.

“The deadline of advance payment for June supplies expired yesterday, we have not received any money from Ukraine’s Naftogaz. As a result Ukraine’s debt for Gazprom gas supplies of 1.7 billion cubic metres has reached 838 million dollars on June 1-16. Its total debt has amounted to a gigantic sum of $5.296 billion. As much as 11,535 billion cubic metres of Russian gas remain unpaid. This is a huge amount compared with annual Russian gas supplies to Poland. Ukraine’s unwillingness to pay for Russian gas becomes chronic and proves once again that the transfer of the country to advance payments stipulated in the contract is the only correct decision,” the Gazprom CEO said.

On June 16, under the contract with Ukraine’s Naftogaz Gazprom has halted gas supplies to Ukraine due to the lack of advance payment for June gas supplies.

 

Naftogaz debt

Ukrainian state-run oil and gas company Naftogaz’s debt to largest domestic public gas producer Ukrgazdobycha for gas extracted in the country keeps growing.

“There is a tendency for debt growth,” as Naftogaz had already owed 2.9 billion hryvnas ($246.2 million), Ukrgazdobycha board chairman Sergey Kostyuk told a news conference on Tuesday.

“This is our debt to banks and creditors, these figures actually became equal,” Kostyuk said.

In his words, debt growth may result in “bad consequences for the company and the whole industry.”

The Ukrgazdobycha chief also stated that current fuel price for Naftogaz was very low and made 419 hryvnas ($35.57) per one thousand cubic metres of gas.