Ukraine on Tuesday started a reverse flow of natural gas deliveries from Europe through Slovakia, the head of state-run energy company Naftogaz said.

"We have much work ahead, but it is a very important step," Andrey Kobolev wrote on his Facebook page.

In April, Ukrtransgaz, the transport arm of Naftogaz, and Slovak pipeline operator Eustream signed an agreement on gas deliveries, which is aimed at diversifying energy supplies to Ukraine.

Gas flows from Slovakia to Ukraine will be delivered through the Vojany-Uzhgorod pipeline at a rate of 10 billion cubic meters per year.

Kiev decided to buy natural gas on the European markets due to its tension with Russia, which cut all gas supplies to Ukraine in June after the two sides had failed to reach an agreement on payments.

Last year, Ukraine imported 30 billion cubic meters of gas, of which about 2.1 billion came from Europe. Endi

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