KIEV, Dec. 3 – Gazprom issued a $1.5 billion loan to Ukraine as a guarantee it will keep moving massive amount of natural gas to Europe via Ukrainian pipelines through 2015, Energy and Fuel Minister Yuriy Boyko said Friday.

The loan must be repaid within the next five years provided that Russia moves at least 112 billion cubic meters/year of gas via the Ukrainian gas pipelines during the period, Boyko said.