UJ.com

Top 2 

                        THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2024
Make Homepage /  Add Bookmark
Front Page
Nation
Business
Search
Subscription
Advertising
About us
Copyright
Contact
 

   Username:
   Password:


Registration

 
GISMETEO.RU
UJ Week
Top 1   

    
Nation    

PM fails to make progress on natgas talks
Journal Staff Report

MOSCOW, June 7 – Prime Minister Mykola Azarov failed to make progress in talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over natural gas prices on Tuesday, a major setback for the prime minister and the Ukrainian economy.

Ukraine has been seeking lower gas prices, an issue that described earlier Tuesday by pro-government lawmakers as a matter of “life and death.”

Putin, after the talks, said that Russia and Ukraine will stick to existing gas supply and transit agreements.

"We confirmed the intention to strictly follow the earlier achieved agreements. This concerns both prices for gas for Ukrainian consumers and reliable transit via Ukrainian territory," Putin said. “If these are terms of the contract, than one has to pay.”

Mykhaylo Chechetov, a senior lawmaker from President Viktor Yanukovych’s Regions Party, said that lowering gas prices was extremely important for the economy.

“The gas loop is strangling us,” Chechetov told Radio Liberty, on Tuesday. “The issue No. 1 - the issue of life and death – is the issue of gas prices.”

Putrin agreed to create a joint team that would look into the issue again, but there was little optimism that the agreement will be reached.

“From the point of view of Russia, conditions of cooperation in the gas sector are very good,” Azarov said, adding “I am saying this with humor.”

“The agreement has a number of problems that we need to discuss and find mutually acceptable variants,” Azarov said, adding that Ukraine will be implementing the agreements until new agreements are reached.

Meanwhile, Putin said that Ukraine should accelerate its talks with Moscow over joining a trade bloc, known as the Customs Union and that also includes Kazakhstan and Belarus.

"I'm convinced that Ukraine's more active involvement in multilateral integration processes, primarily, of course, into the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space, would open up new opportunities for economic actors - for the businesses of our countries," Putin said.

Putin noted that it's up to Ukraine to decide on this matter and that this decision should be carefully considered.

"I want to say that we are certainly ready for Ukraine to get involved into these processes more actively," Putin said.

Ukraine seeks to secure lower natural gas prices now because growing prices of crude oil may push gas price to $500 per 1,000 cubic meters that will make operation of Ukrainian fertilizer producers unprofitable.

Ukraine is buying Russian gas at about $297 per 1,000 cubic meters in the second quarter, compared with $264/1,000 cu m in the first quarter, according to Naftogaz. (tl/ez)




Log in

Print article E-mail article


Currencies (in hryvnias)
  22.03.2024 prev
USD 38.92 39.14
RUR 0.424 0.422
EUR 42.47 42.44

Stock Market
  21.03.2024 prev
PFTS 507.0 507.0
source: PFTS

OTHER NEWS

Ukrainian Journal   
Front PageNationBusinessEditorialFeatureAdvertisingSubscriptionAdvertisingSearchAbout usCopyrightContact
Copyright 2005 Ukrainian Journal. All rights reserved
Programmed by TAC webstudio