REUTERS
Russian energy monopoly Gazprom says it expects prepayment from Ukraine’s Naftogaz before the end of the day.
Head of Gazprom Alexei Miller said the agreement was reached with Naftogaz on advance payment on October 9 for gas deliveries in October, which will allow starting supplies of Russian hydrocarbons to Ukraine from October 12.
"We have just reached an agreement with NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy that an advance payment will be made today for gas supplies in October. After receiving funds in its account, Gazprom will start gas supplies to Ukraine from 10:00 on October 12," Gazprom’s press service quoted Miller as saying.
"The Ukrainian side has sent a request for 2 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas for October," the press service added.
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As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine has suspended gas imports from Russia on July 1, 2015.
According to Ukraine’s Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn, $500 million has been accumulated in the account of Naftogaz for purchasing nearly 2 bcm of gas from Gazprom.
Ukraine has to increase the volume of gas in its underground storage facilities (USFs) to 19 bcm before the beginning of a 2015-2016 heating season in order to ensure uninterrupted transit of Russian gas to the European Union.
As of October 7, 15.789 bcm of gas has been accumulated in Ukraine’s USFs.