Sergei Kupriyanov told RIA Novosti on Tuesday that the Ukrainian side missed the March 31 deadline for remitting advance payments for Russian gas deliveries for the next three months.
In October 2014 Russia slashed Ukraine’s gas price by as much as $100 to $329 per 1,000 cubic meters. The discount at which Russia has been selling natural gas to Ukraine in the first quarter will remain in effect for the whole of the second quarter, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin's said on March 31.
Ukraine's national oil and gas company Naftogaz Ukrainy temporarily stopped buying Russian gas on April 1, but the company is ready to resume purchases if documents will be signed with Russia's Gazprom giving legal confirmation that the price will fall to $250 per 1,000 cubic meters, Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Vladimir Demchyshyn said.
