There is a "50-50" chance that Russia will cut off gas supplies to Ukraine on Jan. 1 over Kiev's failure to pay its debts, Russian energy giant Gazprom said Saturday.
"I think it's 50-50," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told radio station Moscow Echo in an interview, when asked if Russia would cut gas deliveries or the two sides would clinch a last minute deal.
Gazprom says that Ukraine's state gas company Naftogaz owes it some $2 billion for gas delivered in November and December. It also says Kiev has warned Gazprom it will be unable to repay the debt by the end of the year.