Ukraine hopes to find a compromise on the price at which Russia supplies it with gas, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said on Wednesday, calling the current formula "enslaving."
"The agreement which (former Prime Minister Yulia) Tymoshenko has signed, and the $450 formula which is the basis of it, do not match current market conditions. We have the time to persuade our Russian counterparts, and I think we'll find a compromise," Azarov said.
Azarov said Ukraine was in gas talks with Russia.
"The negotiations are difficult, but we don't have any other way out," Ukrainian news agency UNIAN quoted Azarov as saying.
Ukraine receives a 30 percent discount on Russian gas deliveries compared to European supply prices in exchange for permission for the Russian Black Sea fleet to berth in bases in the Crimea for 25 years after 2017, when the previous base agreement expires.