Russia will only deliver gas to Ukraine upon pre-payment, energy giant Gazprom said Monday, after a deadline for arrears payment expired.
“Today at 10 am Moscow time (0600 GMT) Gazprom in full accordance with contractual obligations, switched to pre—payment gas deliveries for Naftogaz Ukraine,” the company said in a statement.
It added that the decision was based on the Ukrainian gas provider’s “chronic non-payment.” Russia says Ukraine owes it some 4.5 billion dollars in unpaid gas bills.