Russia's Gazprom receives prepayment from Ukraine for gas supplies

MOSCOW, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Russian natural gas producer Gazprom said on Saturday it had received a prepayment of $378.22 million from Ukraine for natural gas supplies, paving the way for the first shipments to Kiev since Moscow cut supplies in June.

Ukraine's state energy firm, Naftogaz, said on Friday it had transferred the sum to Gazprom for December. A Gazprom spokesman confirmed the money had been received.

In line with a deal signed by Naftogaz and Gazprom in October, flows to Ukraine from Russia, which were severed in a dispute over prices and debts, will resume within 48 hours from when the Russian firm receives the transfer.

Naftogaz did not say how much gas it planned to buy, but earlier the energy ministry said this could be about 1 billion cubic metres. Russian news agencies also put the amount at 1 billion cubic metres on Saturday.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Editing by Timothy Heritage)