The latest stand-off between Gazprom, the Russian state-controlled energy group, and Ukraine over $1.3bn in unpaid natural gas bills is partly a result of the global liquidity crisis, according to one of the companies at the centre of the dispute.

Ukrgaz-energo, a trading company that controls the supply of gas to industry in Ukraine, blamed difficulties in borrowing on shaky world credit markets for its inability to pay for imported supplies.