KIEV, Nov. 4 - Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz said on Tuesday it had transferred $1.45 billion to Russia's Gazprom, the first tranche of debt repayment required by an agreement that will see Moscow resume gas supplies to its ex-Soviet neighbor, Reuters reported.

Last week Moscow, Kiev and the European Union clinched a deal in Brussels that would restart supplies of Russian gas to Ukraine over the winter in return for payments funded in part by the Ukrainian government's Western backers.