Ukraine Denies That It Owes Turkmenistan

KIEV,Ukraine

Turkmenistan said Sunday that Ukraine owed US$159.9 million (euro134 million), nearly 90 percent of which it said came from last year. Ukraine insists it is debt-free.

Turkmenistan is the second-biggest gas producer in the former Soviet Union after Russia, and it is Ukraine’s biggest supplier. The country’s gas supplies took on a greater importance last month after a bitter dispute between Ukraine and Russia over gas prices.