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Putin warns Ukraine on gas payments, threatens cut-off (Roundup)
Mar 5, 2009, 15:24 GMT
Moscow/Kiev - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday warned Ukraine to be punctual with its payments or face another possible gas cut-off, in the latest friction between Moscow and Kiev over gas deliveries.
According to the Interfax agency, Putin said that if Ukraine did not make its payments for February by Saturday, there would be a cut- off.
This in turn could have consequences for consumers in Europe, the Russian government leader warned.
His comments came as the Kiev government on Thursday contended that it had transferred the entire sum of money owed to Russia.
The last payment of some 50 million dollars for 20 per cent of an outstanding bill for gas delivered to Ukraine in February was sent to the Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom on Thursday afternoon, Ukraine government spokesman Oleh Dubina said.
There was no immediate confirmation of the transfer from Gazprom.
Disputes between Russia and Ukraine over outstanding debts for energy, and to what degree Kiev had paid them, sparked a total cut-off of Russian gas deliveries to Ukraine early this year.
The three-week blockade sharply reduced Russian natural gas sent to Europe, as the fuel mostly arrives to market via trans-Ukrainian pipelines.
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