MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The statement added that the Ukrainian side had to pay the invoice within a 10-day period.
"Within the framework of the contract, an invoice worth $5.319 billion has been sent to Naftogaz," the statement read.
Gazprom previously agreed that the "take or pay" rule, obliging Ukraine to pay for the volume of gas specified in the contract regardless of the real volume of purchases, would be canceled for the fourth quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016 during the cold season in accordance with an agreement reached during trilateral talks between the European Union, Russia and Ukraine in late 2015. The rule came back into force in the second quarter.
In October 2015, Naftogaz said that it was stopping gas purchases from Gazprom citing high prices and stating that any decision to continue to import gas would depend on prices. Ukraine said it had other suppliers in Europe and would only resume purchases if Russian prices fell below EU prices, while Russia said it halted deliveries when Ukraine failed to pay. Following trilateral talks, Ukraine agreed to resume purchasing Russian gas and Gazprom confirmed its willingness to continue supplying Ukraine as well as pumping transit gas through its territory. Ukraine has, however, insisted on scrapping the "take-or-pay" rule.
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