Russia Sets Ukraine Gas Bill at $32 Billion After Flows Stop
- Gazprom charges Ukraine $2.55 billion for July-September 2015
- Gazprom says Ukraine's take-or-pay obligations in place again
Flow direction arrows sit on trunk pipes at the gas metering station, operated by NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy, in Uzhgorod, Ukraine, on Thursday, May 28, 2015. Ukraine aims to reach a natural gas deal with Russia in June to cover next winter, and has warned that failure to reach an agreement would make a new crisis 'artificially created by the Russian side' very likely.
Photographer: Vincent Mundy/BloombergRussia’s Gazprom PJSC resumed billing Ukraine for failing to take delivery of natural gas in the third quarter, taking the total amount the company claims it is owed under a disputed contract to almost $32 billion.
Gazprom charged NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy $2.55 billion for gas under contractual take-or-pay clauses after freezing the obligation temporarily last year. Ukraine has 10 days to pay, the Moscow-based company said in an-emailed statement Tuesday. The claim isn’t valid and will be decided in international arbitration, Naftogaz said by e-mail.