Moscow, June 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has said he hopes to find mutually beneficial solutions to the problem of Ukraine's gas contracts with Russia at the talks in Moscow on Tuesday.
"We strongly believe that the existing agreements do not meet realities, and are quite burdensome for the Ukrainian economy. We hope that we can find mutually beneficial solutions to this and a number of other issues," he said at a meeting of the Committee on Economic Cooperation of the Ukrainian-Russian Interstate Commission in Moscow on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian premier noted that Ukraine is the largest buyer and transit agent of Russian gas to European countries, and that it pays for natural gas shipments on time.
"Our country is the largest buyer and transit agent of gas to European countries. As you know, we have no problems with payments. We pay on time," Azarov said.
A tete-a-tete meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian premiers and talks involving the two countries’ delegates took place before a meeting of the Committee on Economic Cooperation of the Russian-Ukrainian Interstate Commission.
After the talks, when the delegates were passing journalists on their way to the committee meeting, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and Ukrainian Fuel and Energy Minister Yuriy Boiko stopped to speak to journalists.
"We discussed an array of issues related to our strategic partnership," the Ukrainian minister said.
When asked about the specific agreements of the Russian and Ukrainian sides, Boiko said that "the specific agreements will be made after the talks and after mutually acceptable compromises are reached."
Miller said that Gazprom was not planning to alter the price formula for gas for Ukraine and would not couple it to other fuels.
"We won’t be dreaming up any new formula for anybody or pegging it to any other fuels," Miller said, adding that the price formula as per the contract with Ukraine was "an absolutely market-based one."
