Russia says Ukraine must pay for gas ordered under 2009 deals

MOSCOW, Jan 11 (PRIME) -- Ukraine is obliged to pay for unused gas ordered under supply agreements signed in 2009, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said Wednesday during a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, as cited by RIA Novosti.

Ukraine plans to reduce purchases to 27 billion cubic meters in 2012 from a total of 52 billion cubic meters envisaged by a bilateral contract, Miller said. Under the contract, Ukraine is to pay for no less than 33 billion cubic meters of Russian gas in 2012 despite the actual volume of purchases. Initially, this plan was announced by Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yury Boiko earlier on Wednesday. In 2011, Ukraine acquired 40 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia.

Miller also said that the two countries had to agree on the decrease of gas purchases six months before the start of 2012. Moreover, Ukraine is obliged to pay for the amount of gas, which the country does not plan to buy under the contract, Miller said.

Miller also added that the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine fell by 5 billion cubic meters in 2011. The total amount of gas transited through Ukraine amounted to 98.602 billion cubic meters in 2010, Ukrainian gas transportation company Ukrtransgaz said in March.

Miller also said that Ukraine is expected to submit concrete proposals for projects that could be jointly implemented in the near future.

Separately, Miller said that Ukraine’s gas transportation system had been overvalued, adding that there are no existing factors that would cause its value to grow.

Ukraine recently estimated the value of its gas transportation system at U.S. $20 billion, Miller said in late 2011. But Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yury Boiko said that the country is yet to estimate the system.

Russia and Ukraine are expected to hold another round of negotiations on the price of gas supplies to Ukraine on Sunday, Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Industry Ministry said in December 2011. The Ukrainian government has long sought to revise contracts signed in 2009, saying that the price was set excessively high.

Medvedev said that the negotiations have to take into account the progress reached in the run-up to the start of the South Stream project, as Turkey approved the construction of a underwater stretch of pipeline in late 2011.

The South Stream pipeline is aimed at pumping gas under the Black Sea to Europe, bypassing Ukraine.

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