Ukraine seeks further reduction of Russian gas price

Ukrainian Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn said Tuesday that Kiev would seek to negotiate lower prices for natural gas imports from Russia, claiming that the price of 252 U.S. dollars per 1,000 cubic meters offered by Moscow was "unfair."

The price agreed in a 2009 deal with Russian state gas producer Gazprom no longer reflected market prices, Demchyshyn told a press conference here.

"It is not a market price, but we are ready to pay the market price, European price, which excludes transit fees," Demchyshyn told reporters.

During the next round of gas talks, which is expected to be held by the end of the next week, Kiev would seek a price of 220 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters of gas, the minister said.

Under a deal reached last October, Ukraine agreed to buy Russian gas at a price of 385 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters with a discount, which changes every quarter, depending on the fluctuations in global energy prices.

In the first quarter of 2015, Kiev paid 335 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters of gas it imported from Russia, while in the second quarter the price was 88 dollars lower.

At the beginning of the third quarter, Ukraine has suspended gas imports from Russia as European Union (EU)-brokered talks in Vienna failed to reach agreement on pricing.

Earlier this month, Russia's Gazprom said that the gas price for Ukraine in the fourth quarter of 2015 could be pegged at 252 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters. However, it gave no details on a possible discount. Enditem