Kiev asks for advance payment from Gazprom to pay for its gas

Failed in finding for those, who want to finance the purchase of gas from Gazprom in Europe, the Ukraine appealed to the Russian gas monopoly itself. According to the Kommersant’s information, Kiev proposed to return to the scheme before 2013: Gazprom in advance transfers payments for gas transit to Europe to Naftogaz Ukrainy, and the Ukrainian side pays for filling its own storage facilities with money. According to analysts, to fill the underground storage facilities Kiev needs $750 million, which is equal to the payment for the four-month transit. The return to the discussion of the advance payments for the transit required the first for 1.5 years bilateral negotiations of heads of Gazprom and Naftogaz Alexei Miller and Andrei Kobolev.

Naftogaz Ukraine suggested Gazprom to pay an advance payment to the Ukrainian company on account of future payments for gas transit to Europe, sources familiar with the negotiations of the companies’ heads in Minsk on Friday reported to the Kommersant. Naftogaz is ready to spend the money to buy Russian gas for its pumping into underground storage facilities. On Friday, Andrei Kobolev and Alexei Miller unexpectedly held private talks - for the first time since May 2014. Since then, the heads of Naftogaz and Gazprom officially met only during tripartite talks involving the EU, and this year, Mr. Miller didn’t go for such meetings, and the Russian Federation was represented by its Energy Minister Alexander Novak.