KIEV, October 28 (RIA Novosti) — Moscow can deliver gas independently to the self-proclaimed people's republics in the Donbas if it wants, Ukrainian Finance Minister Oleksandr Shlapak said Tuesday.
"If it comes to this, you [Russia] may deliver gas. If you have the opportunity and the people who rule [in Donbas], these bandits, are willing to make payments to you. They are not willing to make payments to us," Shlapak said on the sidelines of the international investment conference "A fresh Look at Ukraine," according to the Ukrainian Apostrophe news website.
Residents of Ukraine's eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions established so-called people's republics and declared independence following the February coup in Kiev.
Russian energy giant Gazprom switched Ukraine to a prepayment system in June due to its gas debt of over $5 billion. In September, Russia and the European Commission proposed the so-called winter package, according to which Ukraine should pay $3.1 billion of the debt to Russia by the end of the year in exchange for gas deliveries during the winter period.
Following trilateral Russia-Ukraine-EU talks in Brussels on October 21, Ukraine agreed to a temporary price of $385 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas for the upcoming winter months. The negotiating parties are expected to hold a final round of gas talks on October 29.
