If the gas negotiations with Russia fail, Ukraine could buy Russian gas from the German concern RWE, Ukrainian Premier Mykola Azarov has said in an interview with German newspaper Die Welt.
According to the press service of the Regions Party, when asked about alternative ways out of the situation, Azarov said that National JSC Naftogaz Ukrainy was planning to buy Russian natural gas at the German concern RWE via the so-called reverse flow method.
The premier added that if there was a failure of the negotiations with Russia Ukraine "will in fact buy Russian gas from the German company, and this will be cheaper than [buying it] directly from Russia."
"This would be a paradox," Azarov added.
The premier also said that it would be reasonable to create a trilateral consortium for the modernization of the Ukrainian gas transport system.
"Our proposal is to create a consortium between the EU, Russia and Ukraine to renovate our gas transport system," he said.
"Today we are deciding who will represent the European side. Each side should guarantee the following: Europe should guarantee quantities of purchased gas, Russia will provide gas supplies, and we will ensure safe transit," Azarov said.
The Ukrainian premier said the EU should participate in the negotiations more actively.
Azarov added that due to the gas contracts that were signed in 2009 NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy is suffering huge losses.
"To make it clear to your readers, Ukraine is buying much more Russian gas than Germany does, and at the same time it has to pay a much higher price, although our economic indices are much lower than in Germany," he said.
"Can you imagine what is going on with such an unfair price? We are trying to save energy. We withdraw funds from other spheres, for instance, the social sector. We had to pay $1.2 billion for Russian gas over the recent month. We have paid it," the PM said.
