Pleading poverty: Ukraine's Naftogaz
Local debt stymies Naftogaz
Ukraine's state-run energy company Naftogaz said today local utilities owed it 5 billion hryvnias ($650 million), which made payments to Gazprom more complicated.
Naftogaz was at the heart of a gas pricing dispute with Russia that led to gas supply cuts for millions in Europe before Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko clinched a deal with a considerable rise in prices for Ukraine.
The company made a similar statement last month but paid up in full for Russian gas supplies on time.
Naftogaz said the debts had more than doubled so far this year.
"The rising debts of utilities significantly complicates Naftogaz payments for imported gas," it said in a statement.
Ukraine infuriated Russia earlier this week by turning to the EU to help modernise its gas transit infrastructure, prompting Moscow to delay high-level talks due next month and warn of further disruptions to supplies.
There are fears also that the fresh disagreement may complicate talks between Naftogaz and Gazprom on prices for the next quarter and other details, such as what to do with the fact that Naftogaz is importing less gas than at first foreseen.
According to a 10-year gas deal with Gazprom signed in January after the three-week stand-off, the price Naftogaz pays for Russian gas jumped to $360 per 1000 cubic metres in the first quarter from $179.5 in 2008.
Ukrainian officials calculate prices to fall to $270 per trillion cubic metres in the second quarter, $219 in the third quarter and $162 in the fourth quarter of this year.
Last year, Naftogaz imported 49 billion cubic metres from Russia, paying $8.6 billion.