Naftogaz reduces debt to Gazprom more than 10%
KYIV. Nov 6 (Interfax) - Naftogaz Ukrainy has reduced its August gas debt to Russia's Gazprom 10.2%, from $882 million to $792 million.
"The debt is now $792 million," the Ukrainian national oil and gas company's deputy CEO, Vadym Chuprun, told reporters in Kyiv.
"I think everything will be okay. We've got out of worse situations than this," Chuprun said.
"We'll pay literally everything back to Gazprom," he said earlier on November 6.
Naftogaz is putting all available resources towards the August debt repayment, but those payments are being held back by the sluggishness of Ukraine's heat utilities sector to repay its own debt to Naftogaz, Chuprun said.
Asked when the whole debt to Gazprom might be paid, Chuprun said this would depend when Naftogaz receives what it is owed. "They'll pay off debts to us, even in installments, but such that we can pay Gazprom, clear that debt for August," he said, adding that Naftogaz currently owed debt for August gas supplies alone.
He said no problems paying for gas supplies in October ought to arise. "As far as we can see so far everything will be okay," he said.
Chuprun confirmed Naftogaz planned to by 18 bcm of gas from Russia this year.
Asked how much gas the company planned to buy from Russia in November, he said: "We'll look at the circumstances. As the debt problem is resolved we'll look at prices so as not to disrupt the winter. We'll do all we can, but not if it risks the country's security in the winter," he said.
Gazprom said on November 5 that Ukraine had started to pay off its $882-million debt for Russian gas, but not very much of it. "Some payments are coming in, but these are so far drops in the ocean and at this rate it will be a very long time before it is paid in full," the Russian gas giant's spokesman, Sergei Kupriyanov, told Interfax.
Kupriyanov said that Ukrainian oil and gas company Naftogaz had paid $50 million on October 30, $9 million on October 31, $10 million on November 1 and $6.2 million on November 4. More was expected on November 5.
Naftogaz said on November 5 that Ukrainian heat providers and the state budget owed it UAH27.7 billion ($3.47 billion) between them.
The heat utilities owe UAH17 billion, including UAH15.9 billion for gas for central heating and hot water supply, and UAH1.11 billion for gas used to generate electricity (UAH7.993/$1).
Also, the Finance Ministry, in line with a government order dated July 17, 2013, is supposed to draft amendments to the 2013 state budget to compensate Naftogaz UAH10.7 billion for the difference between the cost of purchasing imported gas and selling it to the heat utilities, but the company has not yet received these funds.
Naftogaz has urged the relevant bodies to take all possible measures to settle the debt for gas.
Energy and Coal Minister Eduard Stavytsky has said the debt recovered from the heat providers would be one of the sources that fund the repayment of Naftogaz's gas debt to Russia's Gazprom .