You're reading: EurActiv.com: Russia plays gas card to keep Ukraine in its club

Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom said on April 7 it would treat Ukraine as a domestic consumer, cutting its gas bills by $8 billion (€5.59 billion) per year, if it joined Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan in a customs union. "We would use the principle of profit equalisation" in respect of Ukraine if it joined the union, Gazprom Deputy Chief Executive Valery Golubev said. Almost simultaneously, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich made clear that his country did not want to join a Russia-led customs union, suggesting a free-trade deal with the country instead. Read the story here