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Russia state-owned gas firm Gazprom says it will cut off supplies to Ukraine after negotiators failed to resolve a payment dispute before a key deadline expired.
Representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the European Union held meetings over the weekend in an effort to avert the crisis, but no agreement was reached.
Gazprom said Monday that Ukraine’s total debt is $4.5 billion. The state-owned gas firm will now only deliver gas that Ukraine has paid for in advance.
“At this moment no payments for old debt or June were paid,” said Gazprom spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov. “All charts show zeroes.”
In April, Gazprom hiked the price it charges Ukraine by about 80% to $485.50 per thousand cubic meters of gas. By comparison, Gazprom charged European countries an average of $377.50 per thousand cubic meters in 2013.
“Due to the intentional unilateral refusal by Russia to settle this conflict, Ukraine’s and the EU’s energy security are being undermined,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Friday.
Categories: Europe and Australia, Russia, Ukraine
Quoting BBC: Ukraine says Russia has cut off all gas supplies to Kiev, in a major escalation of a dispute between the two nations.
“Gas supplies to Ukraine have been reduced to zero,” Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan said.
Russia’s state-owned gas giant Gazprom said Ukraine had to pay upfront for its gas supplies, after Kiev failed to settle its huge debt.
Gazprom had sought from Kiev $1.95bn (£1.15bn) – out of $4.5bn it says it is owed – by 06:00 GMT.
The Russian firm said it would continue to supply gas to Europe.
Russia-Ukraine ties remain tense since Moscow annexed Crimea in February.
Kiev says Moscow backs separatists in the east of the country. Russia denies the charge.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27862849?ocid=global_bbccom_email_16062014_top+news+stories