Russia's Gazprom & Ukraine's Naftogaz in Debt Talks

Russian gas company Gazprom and Ukraine's state-owned Naftogaz will continue talks in Berlin on Wednesday to try to settle a gas dispute, Russian news agencies quoted Ukraine's energy minister as saying.

"Talks continue today in a two-way format as the Russian side refused to hold them in a three-way format," Yuri Prodan was quoted as saying, adding the talks were expected to last until June 9 - the deadline for Ukraine to pay its gas debts.

Russian state-owned exporter Gazprom gave Kiev some respite on Monday by allowing it six more days to pay its debts, averting the risk of an immediate cut in supplies under an advance payment system that had been due to come into force.

(By Pavel Polityuk in Kiev & Katya Golubkova in Moscow)