据美国合众国际社10月13日莫斯科报道,克里姆林宫13日在莫斯科表示,乌克兰准备在今年年底前解决其拖欠俄罗斯俄气略少于一半的天然气债务。
俄罗斯能源部长亚历山大·诺瓦克说,乌克兰准备在今年年底前向俄气支付其所拖欠的31亿美元中的14.5亿美元。其余拖欠的天然气债务将在2015年3月前解决。
诺瓦克说,还款是俄罗斯重新向乌克兰供应天然气的条件之一。
由于挥之不去的债务问题,俄气今年6月份停止向乌克兰供应天然气。由于俄罗斯出口西方市场的大部分天然气要通过乌克兰前苏联时代的管道网络,2006年和2009年发生的类似争端使得欧洲的下游消费者连续几个星期在寒冷中煎熬。
为了确保充足的冬季供应,欧洲、俄罗斯和乌克兰的领导人一直在设法解决这最新的债务危机。
世界银行和联合国上周在不同的声明中表示,天然气问题将对乌克兰经济和人民产生二次冲击。
李峻 编译
原文如下:
Kiev agrees to pay some Russian gas debt
MOSCOW, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Kiev is ready to settle a little less than half of its gas debt obligations to Russian energy company Gazprom by year's end, the Kremlin said Monday.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Ukraine was ready to pay $1.45 billion of the $3.1 billion owed by the end of the year. The rest of the debt would be settled by March 2015.
Novak said the repayment was among the conditions for new gas deliveries to Ukraine.
Gazprom this year disrupted gas supplies to Ukraine because of lingering debt issues. Similar rows in 2006 and 2009 left downstream consumers in Europe in the cold for weeks as most of the Russian gas bound for western markets runs through the Soviet-era pipeline network in Ukraine.
European, Russian and Ukrainian leaders are trying to resolve the latest debt crisis in order to ensure adequate winter supplies.
The World Bank and United Nations issued separate statements last week saying the gas issue was having secondary impacts on Ukraine's economy and its people.