Europe

Russia stops supplying unpaid-for gas to Ukraine: Moscow

Russia stops supplying unpaid-for gas to Ukraine

Russia has halted supplying unpaid-for gas to Ukraine as a deadline for Kiev to pay its debt passes without a payment, Russian energy giant Gazprom says.

According to Press TV, Gazprom’s spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said Monday the decision was taken as Ukraine had paid nothing of its debt by the 06:00 GMT deadline, adding that, as of now, Moscow has no legal grounds to supply gas to Ukraine.

Moscow had demanded that Kiev make a USD 1.95-billion payment of its debt before the Monday deadline.

Kupriyanov added that, in full accordance with the existing contract, it switched Ukraine’s Naftogaz company to a system of pre-payment for gas supplies, saying that the change was based on the Ukrainian gas provider’s “chronic non-payment.”

In addition, Russia warned Europe of possible supply disruptions if Ukraine drains off gas from its supplies. Ukraine is a key transit route for energy flows to Western Europe.

Furthermore, Moscow announced that it has turned to an arbitration court in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, “to sue Ukraine’s Naftogaz for USD 4.5 billion (3.3 billion euros)” in a bid to recover the debt.

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