KIEV — Ukraine can get by without buying Russian gas before the end of the year, Energy Minister Eduard Stavytsky said Wednesday.
"We reckon that up to the end of the year we can do without buying Russian gas. In the first ten days of November, we got by without any gas imports," he told reporters before a cabinet meeting.
The decision by the Ukrainian state oil and gas company Naftogaz last Friday to suspend imports sparked fears of a possible new dispute that might affect gas supplies to Europe.
Naftogaz' June 2014 dollar bond yield rose more than one percentage point Wednesday, to a record high above 20 percent.
Stavytsky also said that all issues concerning the payment of Russian gas deliveries in October had been settled.
