KIEV, August 16. /TASS/. The Ukrainian national energy company Naftogaz is refusing to pay for 1.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas delivered by Gazprom in the first half of the year, Naftogaz said in a statement posted on its Facebook page on Tuesday.

"Gazprom reported delivering 1.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Ukraine in the first half of the year. It seems that Gazprom managers have found an ideal opportunity for writing off losses," Naftogaz said.

"The point is that any figure of deliveries can be indicated if they are not controlled by the receiving side. Naftogaz won’t pay for the gas, which we have neither ordered nor accepted," the statement said.

Naftogaz, which comprises the country’s largest oil and gas producing enterprises, stated earlier that it did not intend to pay for the natural gas supplied by Russia to the Donbass territories uncontrolled by Kiev.

Naftogaz also earlier stressed that it had not purchased natural gas from the Russian company since November 2015 and before that imported gas "solely through the points of entry into the gas transportation system on the territory controlled by Ukraine."

In turn, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said on June 30 that the bill for natural gas deliveries to southeast Ukraine had reached $718.5 million by that time. Miller stressed then that "natural gas is delivered to the southeast under the same contract as deliveries to all the other regions of Ukraine."

According to Miller, there is a sole contract between Ukraine and Gazprom concluded in 2009 and signed by Naftogaz, which defines "the entry points of gas deliveries to Ukraine, including entry points to the southeast of Ukraine."