Ukraine has paid in full for natural gas supplied by Russia in May, Gazprom confirmed on Monday amid concerns that a threatened halt in supplies to the country could disrupt transit to Europe, RIA Novosti reported.
The Russian gas monopoly confirmed receipt of the payment, promised by Ukraine’s president on Friday after Russia warned that Gazprom may cut supplies by early July if Kyiv did not meet the June 7 payment deadline.
“(Ukraine’s) Naftogaz has paid for May gas shipments in full,” Gazprom said.
Naftogaz said it received about 2.4 billion cubic meters of Russian gas in May, including for underground storage needed to keep pressure in pipelines and ensure uninterrupted transit to the EU, worth overall $648.8 million. Naftogaz said the payment was made on Friday.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin threatened a cutoff last week after Ukraine said it could be unable to pay Russia for current shipments. Putin also urged the European Union to step in to solve the problem.
The gas pricing and debt row between the ex-Soviet allies at the turn of the year led to a cutoff that disrupted energy supplies to millions of EU consumers in January.
