You're reading: Putin: Providing gas discount to Ukraine makes sense; Ukrainian economy can’t bear full price

MOSCOW - Providing gas to Ukraine at a discounted price makes sense, because the Ukrainian economy can't bear the full price, President Vladimir Putin said in response to a question at his annual Q&A session.

“We are providing a discount for gas, because we know that the economy today can’t bear even the prices stipulated in the contract,” he said. “We are not obligated to do this, but we believe it makes sense,” Putin said.

“We are helping people, primarily the Ukrainian people. In addition, we are interested in having the Ukrainian economy recover from crisis,” Putin said.

The discount for gas “is real economic support,” he said.