Ukraine seeks $4 billion loan from European banks to pay for Russian gas imports

August 12th, 2009 Russian leader says Ukraine endangering gas supplyMOSCOW — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has accused Ukraine of endangering European gas supplies, and threatened to delay sending a new Russian ambassador until relations with its neighbor improve. In a letter to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko released Tuesday by the Kremlin, Medvedev also criticizes Yushchenko's push to make Ukraine a NATO member and his support for an Orthodox church outside Moscow's control.

August 6th, 2009 Putin in Turkey seeking support for gas pipelineANKARA, Turkey — Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was in Turkey on Thursday courting support for a gas pipeline project it hopes will help maintain Russian energy dominance in European nations. Putin was holding talks with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan before the two planned to sign an agreement on constructing part of the South Stream pipeline through Turkish waters in the Black Sea.

July 31st, 2009 EU: Ukraine set for up to $1.7 billion in loansBRUSSELS — International lenders are ready to give Ukraine up to $1.7 billion in loans to help it pay a massive natural gas bill to Russia and reform its energy sector, the European Commission said Friday. Ukraine sought up to $4.2 billion to pay Russia for gas supplies as it struggles with a severe economic downturn.

July 30th, 2009 EU: Ukraine is moving on gas reformsBRUSSELS — The European Union says Ukraine has promised to make concrete reforms to the way it manages its natural gas sector in return for loans from international lenders. Ukraine is seeking up to $4.2 billion to pay Russia for gas supplies as it struggles with a severe economic downturn.

July 29th, 2009 Ukraine seeks restructuring of Naftogaz debtKIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine's acting finance minister said Wednesday the government has launched talks on restructuring the foreign borrowings of the state energy firm Naftogaz, in a worrying sign that the company at the center of Europe's natural gas trade is in financial trouble. Ihor Umansky told reporters that the Cabinet is talking to Naftogaz's lenders on restructuring its foreign debt which matures this year, including $500 million in Eurobonds.

July 27th, 2009 Russian Patriarch calls for Ukraine church unityKIEV, Ukraine — The patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church has arrived in Kiev for a 10-day visit aimed at reasserting Moscow's dominance over the church's leaders in Ukraine. Patriarch Kirill said Monday he would pray for the two nations' "unbreakable spiritual and church unity." The statement was a reference to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's efforts to establish an independent Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

July 16th, 2009 EU calls for more gas storageBRUSSELS — The European Union called Thursday on member nations to ramp up natural gas storage and build more pipelines to cope with any future cutoff in energy supplies from Russia. In January, thousands of homes went without heating and some power plants shut down when gas stopped flowing through pipelines from Russia due to a payment dispute with its neighbor Ukraine.

June 19th, 2009 EU warns of new gas supply crisisBRUSSELS — European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned EU countries Friday to prepare for another natural gas supply crisis if Ukraine can't pay for gas imports from Russia. Russia sends the gas it sells Europe through pipelines that cross Ukraine and has cut off all supplies — including gas intended to heat European homes and fuel power plants — in previous disputes with Kiev.

June 10th, 2009 Ukraine to boost banking sector under IMF programKIEV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian government will spend $1.3 billion to shore up three leading banks devastated by the global financial crisis as part of a $16.4 billion rescue loan program with the International Monetary Fund, the prime minister said Wednesday. Yulia Tymoshenko announced a decision to recapitalize the banks — Ukrgaz, Rodovid and Kiev — to save them from collapse and to boost the entire financial sector, which has been hit by a confidence crisis.

June 5th, 2009 Ukraine to pay its Russian gas billKIEV, Ukraine — President Viktor Yushchenko said Ukraine would pay for Russian gas deliveries by the end of Friday, meeting a critical deadline and averting a standoff with its neighbor. Ukraine is due to pay some $500 million in unpaid bills for May gas imports.

April 29th, 2009 Ukraine's Tymoshenko seeks new gas deal in MoscowMOSCOW — Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko promised Russia a role Wednesday in the upgrading of its aged pipeline system after Moscow agreed to let its neighbor off from penalties for taking less gas than agreed. Tymoshenko met with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in their first face-to-face session since a January dispute over gas payments caused huge disruptions to gas supplies across Europe.

January 15th, 2009 Novo-OGARYOVO - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has proposed to the European Union (EU) to set up a consortium to buy from its energy giant Gazprom the amount of gas that Ukraine says is necessary to resume transit to Europe. 'We are proposing that our European partners share the risks and set up an international consortium that could buy from Gazprom the necessary amount of gas and immediately send it to Ukraine to secure gas transit to Europe,' Putin said Thursday.

January 12th, 2009 KIEV - Energy officials in Kiev Tuesday said Russian natural gas was slowly moving into Ukraine's pipeline system, rejecting allegations from Moscow that Ukraine was blocking the flow. 'Gas has started to come in (to Ukraine's pipeline system from Russia),' an official from the Ukrainian natural gas monopoly Naftogaz Ukrainy said.

January 10th, 2009 MOSCOW/KIEV - Ukraine joined Russia to approve a European Union (EU) initiative for international observers to monitor Russian gas deliveries via Ukraine, raising hopes of a possible end to a Kremlin embargo on energy supplies to Europe. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko signed the deal early Sunday, Interfax news agency reported.

December 31st, 2008 MOSCOW/KIEV - Russian export monopoly Gazprom has accused its Ukrainian counterpart of negotiating in bad faith as talks on preventing a gas embargo failed, setting the stage for a new energy crisis in Europe. Ukrainian and Russian government representatives quit negotiations in Moscow some two hours ahead of a promised New Year's cut-off of gas deliveries by Russian energy giant Gazprom to Ukraine, as punishment for a $2-billion Ukrainian debt.