National Holiday Buys Ukraine Wiggle Room in Gas Dispute

By The Moscow Times

June 4, 2014

Gazprom on Wednesday delayed switching Ukraine to prepayment for gas deliveries until June 10 — a one day extension to the deadline, the Russian energy giant said in a statement.

The head of Gazprom made the concession to his counterpart at Ukraine's Naftogaz during talks in Berlin because June 9 has been designated a day off in Ukraine.

June 8 is a religious holiday in Ukraine, but because it falls on a Sunday this year, Ukrainians have also been given the following day off.

Ukraine has acknowledged debts of $2.2 billion for gas supplies in the first three months of the year, while Gazprom claims that the country owes $3.5 billion for first quarter deliveries. Gazprom said it had received $786 million of the sum on Monday.

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