Gazprom rules out concessions in new talks with Ukraine
4/1/2006 11:51
Russian gas giant Gazprom vowed on Tuesday to stick to its demand to more
than quadruple the price of gas for Ukraine in new talks later in the day to
resolve a grueling dispute that has led to a cutoff of Russian gas supply to
Ukraine.
A delegation of Ukraine's national oil and gas company Naftogaz
Ukrainy arrived earlier in the Russian capital for new talks with
Gazprom.
Gazprom is willing to reach an agreement with Ukraine on gas
deliveries but will not make any more concessions, Gazprom spokesman Sergei
Kupriyanov said on the Echo of Moscow radio.
"We have a real opportunity for
reaching agreement with Ukraine on a bilateral basis," he said.
Ukraine was
buying Russian gas at US$50 per 1,000 cubic meters over the past year, but
Gazprom has asked Ukraine to pay US$230, saying the price hike was needed to
conform to world gas price levels.
"We realize that Ukraine is living through
a difficult period. It can only switch to the market-based relations gradually,
but when a very lucrative proposal was sent to Ukraine on Dec. 31, the answer
was 'No,'" Kupriyanov said.
Gazprom has said Ukraine turned down an offer
late Saturday by President Vladimir Putin, who approved a three-month freeze on
the gas price if Ukraine accepted a price hike starting in the second
quarter.
Kupriyanov said an international audit company Gazprom invited
confirmed Ukraine's unsanctioned tapping of gas intended for European clients
since a cutback of gas supply to Ukraine on Sunday but Gazprom would refrain
from making the records public for the time being.
About 80 percent of the
gas the European Union buys from Gazprom is sent through pipelines that cross
Ukraine.
Earlier, the spokesman said Ukraine illegally tapped 104.8 million
cubic meters of Russian export gas on Sunday and 118.7 million cubic meters on
Monday.
Xinhua
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