OREANDA-NEWS. The meeting between Gazprom’s BoD President Alexey Miller and Ukrainian Energy Minister Yury Boyko resulted in the signing of an agreement to settle the debt for gas supplied to Ukraine so far this year. The agreement determines the amount and provides for November 1, 2007 as the payment deadline. According to this schedule, the bulk ($1.2 bn) of the Ukrainian debt will be covered by transferring to Gazprom Export gas stored in RosUkrEnergo’s underground storage facilities, whereas the $929 mn balance will be repaid by RosUkrEnergo and Ukrainian Naftogaz out of their working capital.

According to Antanta Capital's analysts, such being the case, the feud between Gazprom and Ukrainian gas consumers should be ironed out before long, which is likely to help Gazprom avoid escalation of the conflict and solidify its reputation as a reliable gas supplier to European nations.Still, yesterday, the Prime Minister of Russia Viktor Zubkov during a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovich, which also involved participation of Ukrainian Minister of Economy Anatoly Kinakh and abovementioned Yury Boiko, made public a not expected and yet not commented statement about current 2 bln Ukrainian debt for gas, which might further aggravate a still sensitive and sore situation around the Ukrainian debt payment.