BRUSSELS, October 31. /TASS/. Ukraine has confirmed it has money to pay for Russian gas supplies.

The first tranche of $1.451 billion to repay Ukraine’s debt for gas supplies in November and December will be transferred in the coming days, Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak told reporters.

Russia will resume supplies of natural gas to Ukraine in January only after Kiev repays wholly its debt of $3.1 billion, Novak told reporters on Friday.

“Today’s document explicitly states that in November supplies of gas to Ukraine could be resumed only after Ukraine transfers its first tranche of $1.451 billion within its debt for gas,” Novak said. “It should transfer another $1.6 billion till the yearend. Only then we will be able to provide it with gas in January and the document stipulates this.

“Today a milestone - our trilateral consultations - has been achieved,” Novak said. “Vladimir Putin initiated this work by writing a letter to EC President Jose Manuel Barroso. Our agreements are backed up with signed documents.”

Basic principles of debt restructuring have been included in the documents along with a supplementary agreement to the contract adopted by Russian gas giant Gazprom and Ukraine’s gas company Naftogaz in 2009.

He told, take-or-pay payments will not be in force for Ukraine from November 2014 to March 2015, gas price for Ukraine will be $378 for 1,000 cubic meters until the year end and $365 for 1,000 cubic meters until April 2015. Russia's government will adopt a document on a discount for Ukraine at $100 for 1,000 cubic meters of gas in the coming days.

The sides (Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission) have not discussed gas supplies for the summer. 

Gas prices for the summer that Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk made public are forecasted, Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak told reporters.

"Now we have come to the position where the price will be determined on a formula in the contract," Yatsenyuk said. "And oil prices influence the formula. It means that at the end of this quarter the price will be $378 and at the beginning of the next - $365.