Russia resumes gas deliveries to Ukraine

Gazprom resumed deliveries of natural gas to Ukraine on Monday following months of suspended service over a price dispute.

Alexei Miller, head of the Russian state gas company, said the shipments were restarted after Ukraine’s Naftogaz paid $234 million towards a $500-million prepayment for gas to be delivered in October.

Ukraine and Russia reached a preliminary deal in September that will see gas delivered to Ukraine for a price on par with neighbouring EU countries until March 2016.

As part of the deal, Kiev promised that gas shipped from Russia to the EU through Ukraine would face no interruptions.

Ukraine has also agreed to pump 2 bcm (70.6 bcf) of gas into storage in the next month.

The restart of shipments eased fears that a deal would not be reached before cold weather set in. Russia infamously cut off its gas supply to Ukraine in the winter of 2009, a move that caused shortages in numerous European countries dependent on Ukrainian shipments.