Ukraine hopes to end talks on Russian gas price revision soon

MOSCOW, Feb 20 (PRIME) -- The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine hopes that negotiations between Kiev and Moscow on the revision of Russian gas prices will be completed in the near future, the council’s press service said Monday citing Secretary Andrei Klyuyev, following his meeting with Sergei Naryshkin, Russian parliament’s speaker.

“I expect both sides to overcome all existing disagreements and set an optimal, feasible and fair formula to calculate the gas price for Ukraine,” Klyuyev said.

Russia’s Energy Ministry sent a draft contract on a cooperation strategy to Ukraine, and the document is to become the focus of the ongoing talks and consultations, Naryshkin said.

The price of Russian gas for Ukraine amounts to U.S. $416 per 1,000 cubic meters in January–March, and is to amount to $418 in April–September, and to $413 in October–December, according to Ukrainian oil and gas company Naftogaz Ukrainy.

Ukrainian authorities have been seeking to revise the contract signed by former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko for over a year, saying that prices are excessively high.

End