Kiev owes $1.7bn in unpaid Russian gas: Gazprom
Iran Press TV
Tue Apr 1, 2014 12:19PM GMT
Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom Neft has announced that Ukraine owes the company 1.7 billion dollars in unpaid gas bills, amid an increase in gas prices.
Gazprom said on Tuesday that it was ending a gas discount enjoyed by Kiev, as the Russian supplier started hiking prices of gas exports to Ukraine by more than a third.
Ukraine will now have to pay a price of USD 385.5 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters of gas, up from USD 268.5 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters of gas, Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller said in a statement.
"The discount will no longer apply…This is due to the inability of the Ukrainian side to pay for debts from 2013 and realize full payments for current deliveries," he said.
The amount of debt owed by Ukraine to Gazprom now stands at USD 1.711 billion.
The incident marks the latest feud between Gazprom and neighboring Ukraine.
In 2006 and 2009, several disputes between the two led to a temporary shutdown of gas delivery to Ukraine.
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine are running high after a pro-Western government came to power in Kiev, and Crimea declared independence from Ukraine.
The Ukrainian crisis began last November when the country's then president, Viktor Yanukovych, refrained from signing an Association Agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with neighboring Russia.
The refusal triggered months of unrest and clashes with the police, which finally led to the ouster of Yanukovych on February 23. He then travelled to Russia, where he was given sanctuary.
GMA/AB
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