Oleh Dubyna said in an interview published on Saturday that the debt totaled 1.16 billion hryvnias (around $230 million), and that the company would refuse to supply regions that fail to pay their debts.
He singled out the Kharkov, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Lugansk and Lvov regions, as well as the Crimea, for their large debt levels.
Dubyna stressed that the company has no political motives in withholding gas supplies.
"There is no politics in the actions of Naftogaz Ukrainy - only money. As soon as the debtors pay up, gas limits will be allocated, and gas will be supplied."
"Responsibility for the lack of heating in homes lies exclusively with the city mayors and administration chiefs," he said.
Most of Ukraine's gas comes from Turkmenistan, via Russia. Producers in former Soviet Central Asia have announced plans to bring prices in line with EU levels, and Russian energy giant Gazprom has said prices for Ukraine could rise to $400 from next year. In 2008, Ukraine has paid $179.5 per 1,000 cu m for Russian supplies.
