Gazprom

Gas deliveries to Kiev could be disrupted if Ukraine's Naftogaz does not pay its debts to Russian energy concern Gazprom by Monday morning, June 16.

The money that is to be transferred to the Russian company amounts USD 1.95 B.

Hours before the deadline, a new session of talks that started between Kiev and Moscow over the weekend ended without yielding any results.

BELGRADE - Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday he expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev this summer, adding that Serbia had proven itself a true friend to Russia by not imposing sanctions on it.

Ukraine and Russia failed to hold expected talks on a gas pricing dispute June 15 morning, despite a deadline for Kiev to pay a $1.95 billion debt by June 16 or have its gas supplies cut off.

Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said it hoped the talks, being mediated by the European Union’s energy commissioner, would resume June 15 but both sides said a time had not been agreed.

Ukraine announced it would agree to pay USD 326 per 1000 cubic meters of gas following a three-way Brussels meeting over the dispute with Russia.

State-owned energy utility Naftogaz's CEO Andrey Kobolev said the price, which was offered by the EU, a mediator in talks between Kiev and Moscow, was acceptable, according to RIA Novosti.

The article is from Deutsche Welle

Bulgaria has yielded to pressure from Europe and indefinitely halted work on the Russian gasline project South Stream. But experts believe the decision may do more harm than good for the government in Sofia.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski has reiterated he ordered the temporary suspension of South Stream following his statement on Sunday.

Answering to lawmakers' questions Oresharski explained he had launched a procedure to freeze the pipeline without coordinating his actions with the Council of Ministers.

Russian state-owned concern Gazprom maintains the South Stream gas pipeline project is being carried out on schedule, company officials were quoted as saying.

Bulgaria struck a financial agreement with Russia alongside a secret deal on the construction of South Stream, a Reformist Bloc representative said Friday.

Martin Dimitrov's comments come a day after other bloc members alleged that they had gained access to evidence of a "secret deal" with Gazprom on the South Stream project.

Bulgaria's Reformist Bloc (an alliance of democratic parties) says it has obtained evidence about a secret agreement between Bulgaria and Gazprom on the South Stream project.

The agreement is believed to have been signed three days after the May 25 European elections.

Bulgarian Parliament Speaker Mihail Mikov argued Prime Minister Oresharski had been misinterpreted when speaking about South Stream.

Mikov told the Bulgarian National Radio the construction of the pipeline had not been halted. He added that Plamen Oresharski could not have stopped the project, as he does not possess the competences to do so with a private company like South Stream.