BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — The European Union will actively assist Kiev in attracting up to $1 billion funds for Russian gas purchases, the Ukrainian energy minister said Friday.
"I think the issue of financing will be resolved. It involves rather large sums ranging between $800 million and $1 billion," Volodymyr Demchyshyn told reporters following trilateral EU-Russia-Ukraine gas talks in Brussels.
According to a joint statement that followed the talks, the European Commission has pledged to assist Kiev in financing purchases of Russian gas.
He added Kiev saw no need to make large advance payments to Russia, saying Ukraine was going to stick to the sums it has been paying since it switched to the prepayment scheme in June 2014. Moscow requested that Kiev pay for its gas deliveries upfront after Ukraine defaulted on its huge gas debt.
Russia estimates that Ukraine's long term reliance on its energy imports has left the country with an accumulated debt for gas of approximately $2.4 billion.
The next gas talks between Russia, Ukraine and a mediator from the European Commission are expected to place in Berlin on April 13-14, according to the Ukrainian energy ministry.
