Regional customers owe Gazprom $2 billion

MOSCOW, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Regional gas customers owe Russian gas giant Gazprom some $2 billion for gas purchases so far this year, officials told Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Gazprom, the world's largest extractor of natural gas and the largest Russian company, supplies as much as 25 percent of Europe's energy demands.

A January dispute with Kiev over gas debts and contracts sent tremors through the region as 80 percent of all gas bound for European customers travels through Soviet-era pipelines in Ukraine.

Viktor Zubkov, the first deputy prime minister, said during a meeting with Putin that the gas debt from Russian customers rose as the global financial crisis gripped regional economies, the Moscow Times reports.

"If this goes on, the number may grow to be quite large by the end of the year," he said. He added that states that "can pay, should pay," but noted some may not be aware of the problem.

Debt to Gazprom, he said, rose 27 percent compared with the amount last year.