Ukraine reaches accord with gazprom

Published in ForUm

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said she had reached a deal with Russian gas monopoly Gazprom over debts owed by Kiev for Russian natural gas, Interfax news agency reported, according to Agence France-Presse.

'The debt for gas provided in 2007 is settled,' the pro-Western prime minister told journalists upon her return to Kiev after a visit to Moscow.

On February 12, President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko announced a deal in principle to avert a threatened gas cut-off over Kiev's debts, but the agreement has yet to be finalised. Moscow says Kiev owes 1.5 bln usd in debts.