Naftogaz to meet Gazprom payment deadline

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Ukrainian utility Naftogaz is on course to meet its August debt obligations to Gazprom by the Sept. 7 deadline, the Russian energy giant said.

Gas monopoly Gazprom cut natural gas supplies to Ukraine following a January dispute over contracts and arrears. That row disrupted European gas supplies as 80 percent of all Russian gas exports travel through Soviet-era pipelines in Ukraine.

The agreement settling that dispute places strict gas volume requirements and payment deadlines on Naftogaz, which was hit particularly hard during the recession.

Oleg Dubina, chairman at Naftogaz, met with Alexei Miller, his counterpart at Gazprom, in St. Petersburg to discuss bilateral energy issues, Gazprom said.

Dubina informed Miller that his company was set to meet its debt obligations for August by the scheduled date.

Both sides noted that natural gas was being injected into underground storage facilities in Ukraine as scheduled. The volume was sufficient to maintain operations in the Ukrainian gas-transit network during the winter.

The International Monetary Fund in July approved the release of more than $3 billion in emergency funds to help Ukraine finance debt for Naftogaz.

The IMF loan came amid gloomy forecasts for the Ukrainian economy and calls for reform of the national banking legislation.