Ukraine prepays for 1 bcm of gas from Russia

Russia could soon be called to resume gas supplies to Ukraine after a six-month block, as Naftogaz gave notice on Friday it had transferred US$378 million to Gazprom. 

Naftogaz paid for 1 bcm of natural gas, probably to test Russian intentions.  

Kiev kept making use of its stored gas also on Sunday, withdrawing 116.35 mcm, equivalent to 0.87% the total stored gas according to GIE data.

Russian authorities confirmed they received the transfer, but added that Gazprom did not receive request for gas imports from Naftogaz. 

The hiatus would come in a moment of growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine. 

Russian authorities hypothesised that the low amount of gas stored in Ukraine might lead to siphonage. 

On Saturday, European Commission for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič had a telephone conversation with Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to discuss the issue.

‘The Prime Minister reiterated full readiness of the energy system of Ukraine to ensure uninterrupted transit of natural gas’ reads the note released by the Ukrainian government.

Nonetheless, tensions are tangible. On Monday, Yatsenyuk said that “Russia is obliged to stick to the Minsk deal” to avoid sanctions from the European Union and the United States. 

France’s President François Hollande met Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at Moscow’s Vnukovo-2 airport. 

‘We need to continue the discussion we started with you within the framework of the G20. I believe that Russia and France both want to do this, and on June 6, we spoke of the need to look for solutions together, to work hand in hand. We discussed this with Ms Merkel, and we believe that Russia and France can find the necessary solutions’ Hollande said.