'Everything will be OK,' Naftogaz says

KIEV, Ukraine, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Ukrainian utility Naftogaz does not anticipate any problems with its gas payments to Russia through the beginning of 2010, executives said.

Oleh Dubyna, the chief executive at Naftogaz, said gas payments from November to January are expected to proceed as planned, RIA Novosti reports.

"I can say that we'll pay for November, December and January and everything will be OK," he said.

Kiev said Naftogaz would pay approximately $700 million by Monday for its November deliveries of Russian natural gas.

Russian energy giant Gazprom cut gas supplies briefly to Ukraine in January following a 2008 row over gas contracts and debt. That left European customers in the cold for weeks as 80 percent of all Russian gas bound for Europe moves through Ukrainian territory.

The contract settling that dispute put strict requirements on Kiev in terms of gas volumes and payment deadlines.

Both sides agreed in November to revisions of the January contract that eases the burden on Naftogaz, which faced financial trouble when the economic recession gripped markets in Kiev.