Bloomberg: Gazprom Demands $11.4 Billion From Ukraine Before EU Gas Talks
OAO Gazprom (OGZD), the world’s biggest natural gas producer, charged Ukraine $11.4 billion for contracted fuel last year as the smaller country seeks the European Union’s support to cut reliance on Russian imports.
Gazprom sent the bill to NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy yesterday, Sergei Kupriyanov, the Russian state-run gas exporter’s spokesman, said today by phone in Moscow. Ukraine owes a total $18.4 billion in take-or-pay fines for amounts the Ukrainian side failed to accept since their contract was signed in 2009, President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month.