Russian natural gas exporter Gazprom will halt supplies to Ukraine if it fails to pay off part of its gas debts by Monday, chief executive Alexei Miller said on Thursday, raising fears of disruptions in gas flows to Europe.
Miller said that if Ukraine failed to pay $1.95 billion to Gazprom it would start requiring Kiev to pay in advance for further shipments, and that if it did not receive any money at all, it would cut off supplies.
A dispute over gas prices is central to Russia’s crisis in relations with Ukraine, which has led to the worst standoff with the West since the end of the Cold War.
No agreement has been reached in several rounds of talks brokered by the European Commission. As the latest talks hit an impasse, Gazprom set June 16 as the deadline for Ukraine to pay off part of its debt.
“If Ukraine pays for no (gas) volumes at all, it means that … gas shipments to Ukraine will be zero,” Miller said in televised comments.
Moscow says Ukraine has piled up more than $4 billion in debts to Gazprom, which also delivers gas to the EU, half of it through pipelines that cross Ukraine.
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