You're reading: Azarov: Ukraine does not plan to buy amount of Russian gas envisaged in contracts

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has said that Ukraine is not planning to buy from Russia the amount of gas envisaged in the current contracts.

"We told them clearly that we are not planning to buy such a huge amount of gas, which is envisaged in these contracts, [these] one-sided contracts," he told reporters in Khmelnytsky on Tuesday.

While commenting on Ukrainian-Russian gas talks in Moscow on Tuesday, Azarov said: "The subject of the talks is the same, one that has already set our teeth on edge. We must finally conclude these negotiations. How long can we talk? It’s time to find a solution."

He noted that the price of Russian gas for Ukraine, not including the "Kharkiv discount," was $516 per thousand cubic meters.

"For what sins have we been punished by this contract? What have we done wrong? For what sins we are forced to buy such expensive gas? It’s time to stop at last. It’s time to give us the answer as to why our people should pay such a high price," Azarov said.