"Gazprom" meets the active offtake.

Kiev is pumping more gas and still does not pay.

Despite receiving the first tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ukraine did not pay in time for April deliveries of Russian gas and in a week can be transferred to the prepay system. In practice, this step will reduce the current losses of "Gazprom", but has little effect on the positions of the parties, since Ukraine can spend summer without Russian gas. Using the last opportunity, Kiev dramatically increases the reserves in storages and is preparing for difficult negotiations with the EU and Russia.

Yesterday was the deadline when "Naftogaz of Ukraine" was supposed to pay for Russian gas in April. "Gazprom" has declared that the money was not received, and "Naftogaz"’s debt has exceeded $ 3.5 billion, now the Russian monopoly can transfer the Ukraine to prepay by sending a notification before May 16th. Then "Naftogaz" will have two weeks to pay in advance for June. The scope of supply will depend on the amount that "Naftogaz" will pay, considering the price of gas at $ 485 per one thousand cubic meters, which increased in April after the canceling of the discount for the deployment of the Black Sea Fleet in Crimea. If "Naftogaz" will not pay, "Gazprom" will cease to supply gas for domestic consumption in Ukraine, but will continue to transit to Europe.