Russia has finally resumed gas supplies to Ukraine after a six-month stoppage caused by a dispute over prices and unpaid debts, Ukrainian gas transport monopoly Ukrtransgaz was reported as saying on Tuesday.

A Ukrtransgaz spokesman Maxim Belyavsky was quoted as saying by Reuters “Ukraine has started receiving Russian gas”, adding import volumes had reached 43.5 million cubic meters per day.

The resumption of deliveries follows a deal brokered by the European Union in which Russian state gas monopoly Gazprom agreed to end the supply halt provided Ukraine started to repay debts for unpaid gas bills and prepaid for fresh supplies.

Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz said last week it had transferred $378 million to Gazprom to buy 1 billion cubic metres of Russian gas in December to replenish stocks.

The protracted dispute between Russia and Ukraine over gas supplies was exacerbated by Moscow’s annexation of the Crimea peninsula from the latter earlier this year, as well as its alleged support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The new gas pact averts the risk of a gas shortage during the critical winter months in Ukraine, which has been delving into its reserves as temperatures drop