KIEV, July 6 - Naftogaz Ukrayiny on Monday paid about $270 million to Russian gas giant Gazprom, narrowly meeting a deadline for covering natural gas imports in June, Naftogaz reported in a statement.

The progress with the payment is watched closely as it averts a showdown between Naftogaz and Gazprom that could lead to gas supply disruptions between Russia and the European Union.

“The company has made the settlement for the June gas supplies,” Valentyn Zemlianskiy, a spokesman for Naftogaz, said in the statement.