Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine’s prime minister, said on Friday the recession-ravaged country had squeezed enough funds from consumers and cash-strapped state coffers to pay a $500m October gas bill to Gazprom, Russia’s natural gas giant.

Gazprom has not yet confirmed receipt of the payment. But the announcement extinguished fears in Brussels that Kiev and Moscow could be heading towards a repeat of last January’s energy standoff.