Gazprom resumes gas supplies to Ukraine

MOSCOW: Gazprom on Monday resumed gas supplies to Ukraine after receiving prepayment of $234 million from Kiev, assuaging European fears about a new energy crisis ahead of the winter heating season.
The resumption of gas supplies comes as fighting in the east has largely died down, fuelling hopes that the conflict that has claimed more than 8,000 lives can be resolved.
"Gazprom began supplying gas to Ukraine at 10:00 am (0700 GMT) today," Gazprom chief Alexei Miller said in a statement.
Moscow received $234 million of the $500 million expected from Kiev, Miller said, adding that Ukraine had requested the delivery of 114 million cubic meters per day, the maximum volume of gas that could be delivered by Gazprom.
Ukraine´s state gas pipeline operator Ukrtransgas declined to immediately comment on Monday but the firm said last week that Kiev was ready to purchase two billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia in October.
Moscow late last month agreed to resume gas supplies to Ukraine after reportedly offering Kiev a rebate, ending months of talks overshadowed by the crisis in eastern Ukraine and fears for Europe´s energy security.
Russian energy minister had said that the price offered was competitive with those for the gas supplied to countries neighbouring Ukraine.
In June, Ukraine announced it was suspending all purchases of natural gas from Russia over a price dispute after EU-mediated talks broke down.
Russia supplies around a third of Europe´s gas, with roughly half of it flowing via Ukraine.
"This is a resumption of cooperation," Yury Korolchuk, an analyst with the Institute of Energy Strategies in Kiev, told AFP