MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti) — European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said a new round of trilateral gas talks between Russia, Ukraine and the EC was necessary later this month, Reuters reported Monday.
"Further invitations for trilateral talks in June are foreseen," Oettinger was quoted as saying.
Oettinger served as mediator in the gas price discussion between Russian Gazprom and Ukraine’s Naftogaz. The latest meeting in Kiev on the weekend brought no consensus, and resulted in Russian gas giant Gazprom implementing a prepayment plan for the delivery of Russian fuel to Naftogaz. The scheme came into force at 10:00 a.m. Moscow time (06:00 a.m. GMT) on Monday after being put it off several times this month.
Gazprom's statement said Naftogaz arrears for Russian gas deliveries stood at $4.458 billion.
Ukraine’s gas debt to Russia has been building up since 2013 as the country found itself amid a deep political crisis. Naftogaz discounted rate was scrapped in April after Kiev failed to deliver on its debt, which now accumulates at a rate of some $1 billion per month.
Starting Monday, the Ukrainian company will only receive the amount of gas it will have paid for in advance. No payments have been received for June preliminary bill, yet. The latest price proposed by Russia stands at $385, which is the average market price Gazprom offered Kiev after axing a deal to subsidize gas exports to Ukraine.
