KIEV, Sept. 5 - The price of Russian gas for Ukraine has shot up 2.5 times since the end of 2008, including by $120 per 1,000 cubic meters this year or by UAH 1,000 per each Ukrainian, which is an excessive burden for the population and the economy, Naftogaz Ukrayiny CEO Yevhen Bakulin said on Ukraine's Channel 5 television on Monday.

"If gas cost $230 per 1,000 cm, this would be an objective price," he said.

Before the January 2009 gas agreements with Russia, the price was $179.5 per 1,000 cm, Bakulin said.