Ukraine's national natural gas company Naftogaz is in talks with Deutsche Bank (DB) about a $1.55 billion loan, the company's spokesman Valentyn Zemlyansky told Dow Jones Newswires Monday.
He didn't give any details on when the talks will be completed, or the conditions of the loan.
Naftogaz, which saw a credit line opened by the bank in 2005, has already borrowed $600 million from Deutsche Bank.
Zemlyansky also said the company is planning to issue a bond in 2009, but wasn't able to provide any more information.
The company, which supplies gas to domestic customers at subsidized prices, sometimes bellow what it's paying for imported gas, was been in technical default on its $500 million 2009 Eurobond since the beginning of 2008, as it failed to provide bondholders with its 2006 audited accounts.
Ukraine currently pays $179.5 per 1,000 cubic meter of gas, imported from Russia and Central Asia, compared with $130 in 2007.
Russia's and Ukraine's officials have said the price could rise to $400 next year.