Ukrainian businessman Igor Kolomoisky is in talks over buying 50% of intermediary RosUkrEnergo, which supplies Ukraine and other East European countries with natural gas from Central Asia, the Vedomosti daily reports Friday.
RosUkrEnergo, a Swiss-based trader, is currently owned 50% by Russia's state-controlled gas monopoly OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) and 50% by Ukrainian businessmen Dmitry Firtash and Ivan Fursin.
Kolomoisky is seeking to buy the share owned by Firtash and Fursin for $3 billion-$5 billion, Vedomosti reports.
RosUkrEnergo has been at the center of an ongoing dispute between Moscow and Kiev over gas deliveries to Ukraine.
Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's prime minister, has insisted RosUkrEnergo be removed as a middleman, saying the company posed a threat to European energy security due to its opaque ownership structure. Gazprom's deputy Chief Executive Alexander Medvedev Thursday said the company will remain in place.