MOSCOW, December 31. /TASS/. Russian energy giant Gazprom has received $150 million as Ukraine’s Naftogaz advance payment for Russian gas supplies in January 2015, Gazprom told TASS.
The Russian energy major failed to name the exact gas amount for the Ukrainian company in January, because the amount remaining from December prepayment should be specified and the price should be calculated according to the formula. Russian gas price for Ukraine is expected to go down from $378 per 1,000 cubic meters to $365 in the first quarter.
Ukraine’s Naftogaz said earlier on Wednesday that the company had transferred advance payment to Gazprom for January delivery and hopes to receive one billion cubic metres of gas.
Naftogaz hopes to receive one billion cubic meters of gas thanks to unused prepared amounts for December 2014 and thanks to prepayment for January 2015. "Gas amounts which will be taken thanks to the residue of December prepayment will be calculated at a new price,” the company added.
Ukraine has taken around 300 million cubic meters of gas from one billion cubic meters prepaid for December, Gazprom spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov said on December 24.
According to the deals reached in late October, the gas price for Ukraine makes $378 per one thousand cubic meters in the fourth quarter of 2014 and $365 per one thousand cubic meters in the first quarter of 2015.
At tripartite talks between Russia, the European Union and Ukraine overnight to October 31 accords were reached in Brussels to resume Russian gas supplies for Ukrainian consumers, securing gas transit to the EU states and partly paying off Ukrainian gas, TASS reported earlier. On November 4, Ukraine’s Naftogaz said the company had transferred $1.45 billion first payment to Gazprom as delivered gas debt pay-off.
Overnight to December 6, Naftogaz said that it had made advance payment for Russian gas supplies in December. Later Gazprom confirmed $378 million payment transfer from Ukraine. On December 9, Gazprom began gas supplies to Ukraine.
On December 24, Gazprom said about $1.65 billion second tranche as Naftogaz debt repayment, after that the Ukrainian company was granted the right of Russian gas import in January.