MOSCOW, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine is again having difficulty paying for Russian natural gas supplies and the EU is not going to lend Kiev money to solve the problems, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
Moscow briefly shut down supplies via Ukraine's pipeline system at the start of the year during a dispute with Kiev over unpaid debt.
"It seems we are again seeing problems emerge with [Ukraine] paying for energy supplies," Putin said at a meeting with the leadership of the ruling United Russia party.
Putin added that Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko told him by telephone on Friday that President Viktor Yushchenko was blocking payments for Russian gas supplies.
The Russian prime minister said that IMF data showed Ukraine had gold reserves of $27-$28 billion, with a maximum of $12 billion required to cover the payment. He also noted that the European Union had refused to extend any loans to Ukraine to cover its gas purchases.
"The EU has not given Ukraine any money," Putin said. "Ukraine has not received a single cent, not one hryvnia."
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Friday that he hopes Russia and Ukraine will resolve gas issues on their own without EU mediation.
He told journalists the EU will support both sides in resolving problems with Russian gas deliveries to Europe via Ukraine but will not mediate commercial disputes between the former Soviet neighbors.
Russia supplies around one fifth of Europe's gas via Ukraine. Brussels had announced intentions to take part in the modernization of Ukraine's gas transit system.
Ukraine's state-controlled energy company Naftogaz rejected on Monday reports of gas payment problems, saying it would pay for Russia natural gas supplied in October on time and in full.
A source in Naftogaz on Monday quoted its CEO Oleh Dubyna as saying at a meeting with Gazprom head Alexei Miller last week that it was increasingly difficult for the Ukrainian energy company to make gas payments and it could be problematic for it to pay for natural gas supplied in October.
Yushchenko has repeatedly called for the revision of long-term gas contracts signed by Gazprom and Naftogaz to resolve the January gas dispute. The Ukrainian president said Naftogaz had lost at least $2.5 billion from Russian natural gas transit.
