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Ukraine will charge market prices for transit of Russian gas in 2010, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has said. Ukraine will charge market prices for transit of Russian gas in 2010, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has said.

"Beginning January 1, 2010, Ukraine will for the first time receive a market price for transit of Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe and, accordingly, Naftogaz Ukrainy will receive billions of dollars in revenue," Tymoshenko said at a joint press conference with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at the Livadia Palace.

Putin said that charges for gas transit would rise approximately 60%.

"Payment for gas transit will increase approximately 60%. We are doing that because it is stipulated in the contract and Gazprom openly agreed to that," he said.

The contract concluded between Gazprom and Naftogaz Ukrainy in 2009 is standard and analogous to those on gas deliveries to other European countries, Tymoshenko said.

"Ukraine has a standard contract between Naftogaz Ukrainy and Gazprom, the same one that Gazprom has with other European countries. And all the talk about the contract being good or bad is meaningless. It is simply a standard contract," she said.

"The fact that we have for the first time in 18 years signed a genuinely market contract truly strengthens Ukraine's sovereignty. It is a relationship between two equal partners. All the same it is pleasant to note that some easing of the terms for Ukraine helped these partnership relations to come about in the crisis year of 2009. That includes a 20% discount from the market price on Russian natural gas for Ukraine and, as a result, no fines," she said.

"I understand very well all of the events surrounding the gas contracts in Ukraine. Many in Ukraine, including high-ranking politicians, don't like these contracts, because in preceding years, unfortunately, there was a mega-corrupt model for operations on the gas market," Tymoshenko said.