Moscow, Russia (CNN) -- Russian energy giant Gazprom has paid Belarus $228 million for delivering natural gas to Europe, the Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti said Thursday.
The payment falls short of the $260 million demanded by Belarus for transit fees, but Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller reported to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that the company had cleared its debts to Belarus, Medvedev's press secretary said in a news release.
Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said the payment resolved the issue.
"There are no problems that could hamper gas supplies or transit," Kupriyanov told the news agency.
The spokeswoman for the Belarus Energy Ministry, Lyudmila Zenkovich, told CNN, however, that her ministry didn't have official confirmation that the money transfer had reached Belarus.
Gazprom said this week that Belarus was behind on its payments for natural gas and the company reduced the amount of gas it supplied to the former Soviet republic by a total of 60 percent.
