Ukraine rising gas debt a concern

Moscow - Russia is concerned about Ukraine's rising debt for gas, but sees no grounds to review deals if Kiev fulfills existing agreements on gas purchases, President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson said on Wednesday.

"Of course we are concerned by the growing debt for gas supplies ... but we hope that our Ukrainian partners will stick to all the clauses of the current agreement," spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Kommersant-FM radio.

Ukrainian energy firm Naftogas said this week that non-payments by its clients mean it may fail to pay Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom on time for imports, a bill the Kremlin-controlled company says has risen to $3.3bn.