Ukraine Sends delagation Representative to Moscow for Urgent Talks

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko sent a NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy delegation to Moscow for “urgent” talks to help secure natural-gas supplies after Russia said debts for the fuel reached $2.4 billion.

Ukraine owes money for gas put into storage in October and a delay of a few months would help the countries find a solution to payment issues, Timoshenko told journalists in Kiev today. The premier didn’t specify the size of the debt and to whom it was payable.

State-run energy company Naftogaz said last week it owes RosUkrEnergo AG, the sole importer of gas into Ukraine since 2006, $1.27 billion for shipments, about half the amount sought by Russian gas exporter OAO Gazprom. Supply intermediaries have now been eliminated and all issues should be resolved this year, Timoshenko said in a statement today on the government Web site.

“We shall do everything possible to resolve the misunderstanding over the debt for gas,” Timoshenko said in the Ukrainian capital, adding that she hoped the matter would be settled in the next few days.

Naftogaz Chief Executive Officer Oleh Dubina pledged to clear the debt. The company is working with banks on repayment, he said in a separate statement on the government site.

Moscow-based Gazprom, which supplies 70 percent of Ukraine’s gas and a quarter of Europe’s, reduced deliveries by half in the first week of March, saying the country owed $600 million.

Sergei Kupriyanov, a Gazprom spokesman, said in a Nov. 22 interview on state television that the world’s largest gas company won’t continue supplies to Ukraine without a contract, though it’s seeking to avoid supply cuts after Dec. 31.

In January 2006, Gazprom cut supplies for more than two days as it sought a fourfold increase in prices from Ukraine. That dispute was settled, with RosUkrEnergo installed as Ukraine’s importer. Naftogaz and Gazprom agreed in February to eliminate the Swiss-registered trader, half owned by two Ukrainian businessmen with the rest controlled by Gazprom, from the market in 2009.

Gazprom would like to avoid another supply cut, Kupriyanov told state broadcaster Vesti-24. “We have time to come to an agreement on everything in the remaining days before the New Year,” he said. “But, as you understand, we cannot supply gas without a contract.”

Author: Jo Amey