Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said Wednesday he expects natural-gas supply contracts from Russia to Ukraine to be revised.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said Wednesday he expects
natural-gas supply contracts from Russia to Ukraine to be revised.
"We will achieve a revision of the gas agreements," Azarov said at a
cabinet meeting. Azarov and his ally, President Viktor Yanukovych, say that the
price
Ukraine
pays
Russia
for
gas under a January 2009 agreement is excessively high and are seeking to
renegotiate the contract with
Moscow
.
Azarov accused the previous government of former Prime Minister Yulia
Tymoshenko, who now leads the opposition, of concluding a "shackling gas
agreement" with
Russia
that
"sucks an excess $3.5 billion per year from the state compared with
European prices."
The new administration in
Kiev
last
month offered
Russia
a
stake in a consortium to run
Ukraine
's
pipeline system, which transports 80% of Russian gas flows to
Europe
. No
agreement was reached, but Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said "no
issue is closed to us" after meeting Azarov in
Moscow
March
25.
A reduction in the price of gas from
Russia
would
be a boost to
Ukraine
's
economy, which is struggling to pull out of a slump that saw gross domestic
product drop by 15% in 2009. The economy is powered by energy-hungry industry
in the east of the country, which needs cheap gas to remain profitable.
In a meeting with Yanukovych Tuesday, Azarov said an increase in the price of
gas to $330 per 1,000 cubic meters in the second quarter of the year, from $305
in the first quarter, would cripple the key chemical and metals sectors.
Ukraine
is
negotiating with the International Monetary Fund on the resumption of a $16.4
billion bailout program that depends on the new government holding a tight
budgetary line. The gas price weighs heavily on the budget because of large
state subsidies. Azarov said the high gas price made developing a state budget
for 2010 "extreme work."
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