Ukraine cites $230 as ‘fair’ price for Russian gas

Ukraine, which is looking to review gas contracts with Russia, would accept a price of $230 per 1,000 cubic meters, Naftogaz Ukraine head Yevhen Bakulin said on Monday.

Ukraine earlier said the gas price of $354 per 1,000 cubic meters as set for the third quarter of 2011 is too high and should be reduced to $200.

The price of $230 would be “good, and quite fair,” Bakulin said in an interview with the Channel 5 TV station.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko said earlier in the day that Kiev would not join the Moscow-led Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, a condition for discounts on Russian gas prices.

But he said that Ukraine would try to solve its long-standing gas price dispute with Russia out of court, a week after Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said that Kiev would seek arbitration in Stockholm if Russia did not offer a better deal on gas supplies.

Last week, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Ukraine might get discounts for gas if it joined the Customs Union.

Leave a comment