Gazprom, Ukraine Reach Deal on Gas Debt
By LYNN BERRY
MOSCOW – Russia’s state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom said Tuesday it agreed to settle Ukraine’s debt for gas supplies, seeming to resolve a dispute that has raised concerns of a supply cut to Europe and added to the political uncertainty in Ukraine.
OAO Gazprom said earlier this month that Ukraine owed $1.3 billion (920 million euros), but Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said Tuesday that Ukraine’s debt had climbed to more than $2 billion (1.4 billion euros).
Ukraine would repay $1.2 billion (850 million euros) of the debt by transferring gas from underground storage facilities in Ukraine to Gazprom for further export, Zubkov said during a televised meeting with Ukraine’s Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych in Moscow.
The remaining $929 million (659 million euros) is to be paid by the companies that supply gas on the Ukrainian market, he said.
Gazprom’s threat early this month to reduce gas supplies to Ukraine if it fails to pay the debt came as votes were still being counted in Ukraine’s tense parliamentary election and was viewed as a Kremlin attempt to influence the formation of a governing coalition.
Yanukovych, who is seen as Russia-friendly, faces the possibility of losing his post after a strong showing in the Sept. 30 elections by the parties of his rivals, President Viktor Yushchenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Talks on the formation of a governing coalition are ongoing.
Gazprom supplies gas it buys from Turkmenistan to Ukraine through a Swiss-based trading company, RosUkrEnergo, half of which is owned by Gazprom and half by two Ukrainian businessmen.
Tymoshenko, who hopes to return to her post as prime minister, has criticized the use of the intermediary and has promised to get rid of it.
The agreement to settle the debt by Nov. 1 was signed after talks Monday between Gazprom’s Chief Executive Alexei Miller and Ukraine’s Energy Minister Yuri Boiko, Gazprom said.
It stipulates that the first payment of $200 million (142 million euros) is to be made by Oct. 22 to RosUkrEnergo, a statement from RosUkrEnergo said.
The underground storage facilities from which the gas is to be transferred to Gazprom also are owned by RosUkrEnergo.
Both Gazprom and Ukraine have said the dispute would not disrupt Russian gas exports to the European Union, as happened in early 2006, when Gazprom cut off supplies to Ukraine in a pricing dispute. EU officials, however, have voiced strong concerns and urged the parties to quickly reach agreement.