European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said that the European Union could find up to $1 billion for Ukraine to pay for the Russian gas. The financial aid could be provided in the nearest future, The Wall Street Journal reported.
According to Angela Merkel, Ukraine needs a bridge loan for the purchase of gas, but this measure is not finalized yet. Earlier, she had said that EU taxpayers should not pay for Ukraine’s debt to Gazprom.
Previously, Ukraine asked the EU for extra 2 billion euros to fill in the country’s budget gap. According to EU officials, the European Commission is unlikely to agree to allocate such an amount.
The negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and representatives of the EC failed to resolve a long-running dispute over Russian gas supplies to Ukraine and gas transit to Europe. So far, no solution to find money for advance payments to Gazprom has been found.
