President: Ukraine has paid $800 mln debt for Russian gas

KIEV, Dec. 18 (Chinese media) -- Ukraine has paid Russia 800 million U.S. dollars to settle arrears for gas supplies and will soon pay another 200 million dollars, President Viktor Yushchenko said Thursday.

"We should have no debts," Yushchenko told reporters after talks with Oleh Dubyna, the head of Ukraine's state energy company Naftogaz.

Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom said Tuesday that no progress had been made in talks in Moscow on natural gas deliveries to Ukraine in 2009, or on settlement of the country's 2008 debt.

According to Gazprom, Naftogaz owes 2.4 billion U.S. dollars for gas supplied to Ukraine from September through November, including penalties and fines.

The Ukrainian company has started to repay the debt, but is seeking to postpone full payment.

Gazprom said earlier no new contracts on natural gas supplies to Ukraine would be signed unless Naftogaz pays off the debt.