You're reading: Ukraine expects to join Europe in getting price cut for Russian gas

President Viktor Yanukovych said that his administration has not yet agreed with Russia on the price of natural gas imports that are crucial to fueling Ukraine’s inefficient and ailing economy, but he stressed that negotiations are ongoing.

“There is movement towards compromise from both sides but the process is far from finished,” Yanukovych said on Nov. 22.

The announcement came one day after Alexei Miller, chief executive of Russia’s state-controlled gas company Gazprom, announced that prices for his company’s European customers would fall in the first quarter of 2012.

“At the beginning of next year’s first quarter we will have a small decrease of gas prices,” Reuters quoted Miller as saying on Nov. 21.

According to Reuters, Miller declined to say by how much he saw them falling. The announcement follows rising demands by EU energy companies for Gazprom to lower its prices or face arbitration.

According to Reuters, European consumers were paying an average of $446 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas in November. Total Russian exports to Europe are forecast at 152 billion cubic meters this year.

Ukraine has seen its import prices for Russian gas surge since 2006 from about $50 per 1,000 cubic meters to a rate of some $400. Sources said Ukraine is seeking a reduction to about $230 per 1,000 cubic meters.