KIEV, July 15 – Naftogaz Ukrayiny should increase the gas transit rate through Ukraine to a European level if the price of imported natural gas rises to $400 per thousand cubic meters, according to Volodymyr Omelchenko, a leading expert for energy programs on oil and gas at the Ukrainian Razumkov Center.

"It's obvious that a rise in the price of imported gas to $400 would lead to considerable expenses on the transportation of Russian gas though the Ukrainian gas transportation system, as compressor plants annually consume up to 6 billion cubic meters of imported gas," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.