Ukraine owes Russia $3.35 billion for gas

Ukraine's debt for Russian gas makes up 3.35 billion dollars. This amount includes the cost of a half of last year's deliveries and the cost of gas deliveries in January of the current year.

The volume of natural gas deliveries in January amounted to 2.4 billion cubic meters, at a new fixed price ($268.5 per 1,000 cubic meters) - $650 million. The Ukrainian authorities have asked for a deferral of payments. Officials with the  Ministry of Energy of Ukraine say the payment has been pushed back till March, whereas the Cabinet says that there will not be any delays made at all.

Last year, Ukraine paid an average of $400 per thousand cubic meters of gas. In mid-December, after negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents, Kiev was given a substantial discount on the price of gas. In addition, Ukraine was given a loan of $15 billion. It is expected that during this year, Ukraine will purchase 35-40 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia.