KIEV, April 2 - Ukraine on Tuesday defended its growing imports of natural gas from Europe by dismissing allegations made by Russia’s Gazprom that the imports looked like “fraudulent schemes.”

“These are absolutely legal, clean schemes,” Volodymyr Makukha, deputy energy and coal industry minister, told reporters. “What issues are you talking about?”

Ukraine has significantly reduced imports of Russian gas over the past 12 months citing high gas prices and Gazprom’s refusal to negotiate lower prices over the past three years.