Ukrainian state energy firm Ukrtransgaz said Tuesday that it has resumed imports of natural gas from Russia after a six-month suspension of shipments.
"Starting from Tuesday, Ukrtransgaz began to receive natural gas from Russia to cover the needs of Ukrainian consumers," the company said in a statement.
Ukraine is planning to import around 43.5 million cubic meters of gas from Russia per day in December, said Maxim Bielyawski, a spokesman for Ukrtransgaz, the transport arm of Naftogaz. The deliveries are carried out within the framework of a gas supply "winter package" worth 4.6 billion U.S. dollars, under which Ukraine will receive gas from Russia till March 2015 on a prepayment basis.
Last Friday, Naftogaz transferred 378 million dollars to Russian energy giant Gazprom in an advance payment for 1 billion cubic meters of gas to be delivered this month.
In June, Russia cut off all gas supplies to Ukraine as the two countries failed to reach an agreement on payments. But the ex-Soviet neighbors agreed in late October that Moscow will resume gas supplies during the cold season on the condition
that Kiev repay 3.1 billion dollars of outstanding debts by the end of this year.