Russia has guaranteed that the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic will pay its debts for water to Ukraine off, Darya Olifer, the press secretary of Ukrainian representative in the contact group Leonid Kuchma, has said.
"The procedure of paying Ukraine for water which is consumed by certain areas of Luhansk Region has been agreed with regard to Russian guarantees for these payments. In fact, it is the first time ever that the part of Donbas not controlled by Ukraine has admitted the existence of debts to the Ukrainian budget and the need to pay them off," she said on Facebook.
The social-economic subgroup also discussed the reconstruction of Donbas infrastructure, including overhead transmission lines, and the need to ensure stable supply of coal to Ukrainian cogeneration plants.
They agreed to open an automobile checkpoint in Luhansk Region (Lysychansk-Horske-Zolote-Pervomaysk-Stakhanov) by mid-February.
No progress was achieved on the issues of the release of prisoners, restoration of border control and elections in Donbas.
The timing of the next meeting of the contact group will depend on results of the Normandy Four foreign ministers' meeting scheduled for early February.