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Kiev denies gas payment problems, expects EU loan

Kiev denies gas payment problems, expects EU loan
 Kiev denies gas payment problems, expects EU loan  - Sputnik International
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Ukraine has denied a remark by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday that Ukraine is again having difficulty paying for Russian natural gas supplies and the EU is not going to lend Kiev money to solve the problems.

KIEV, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine has denied a remark by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday that Ukraine is again having difficulty paying for Russian natural gas supplies and the EU is not going to lend Kiev money to solve the problems.

Putin added that Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko told him by telephone on Friday that President Viktor Yushchenko was blocking payments for Russian gas supplies.

The Russian prime minister said that IMF data showed Ukraine had gold reserves of $27-$28 billion, with a maximum of $12 billion required to cover the payment. He also noted that the European Union had refused to extend any loans to Ukraine to cover its gas purchases.

Ukrainian president's representative for international energy security issues Bohdan Sokolovsky said Putin's statement was "unfriendly."

"On July 30, the European Commission and three honorable international financial institutions published a joint statement on a $1.7 billion loan to buy Russian gas. However, the head of the Ukrainian government is still slow at fulfilling the conditions in order for these funds to be transferred," Ukraine's presidential press service quoted Sokolovskiy as saying.

Kiev asked the EU for a $4.2 billion loan to pump Russian gas into its underground storages in order to avoid gas transfers into Europe.

"The EU has not given Ukraine any money," Putin said. "Ukraine has not received a single cent, not one hryvnia."

Russia supplies around one fifth of Europe's gas via Ukraine. Brussels had announced intentions to take part in the modernization of Ukraine's gas transit system.

Ukraine's state-controlled energy company Naftogaz rejected on Monday reports of gas payment problems, saying it would pay for Russia natural gas supplied in October on time and in full.

A source in Naftogaz on Monday quoted its CEO Oleh Dubyna as saying at a meeting with Gazprom head Alexei Miller last week that it was increasingly difficult for the Ukrainian energy company to make gas payments and it could be problematic for it to pay for natural gas supplied in October.

Yushchenko has repeatedly called for the revision of long-term gas contracts signed by Gazprom and Naftogaz to resolve the January gas dispute. The Ukrainian president said Naftogaz had lost at least $2.5 billion from Russian natural gas transit.

 

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