Ukraine and Russia have agreed to create a working group to discuss conditions for gas supplies, Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuriy Boiko told journalists in Kyiv on Wednesday.
"Yesterday Russian Vice Prime Minister Igor Sechin visited us. We discussed aspects linked to gas supplies to our country. The talks will continue. We agreed to create a working group that will work on the issues. A constructive dialogue is underway," he said.
As reported, on April 13 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin promised to order vice premier Sechin to discuss gas price formation in Kyiv on April 19.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said at the meeting with Putin that the gas contracts signed by former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in early 2009 were disadvantageous to Ukraine.
Under the gas agreement Kyiv and Moscow signed in April 2010, Ukraine gets a 30% discount on the price of Russian gas, but the discount can be not more than $100 per 1,000 cubic meters.
Under the Russian-Ukrainian gas contracts signed in January 2009 and running to 2020, the price of Russian gas is based on a formula that incorporates changes in the price of fuel oil and gas oil.
The price Ukraine pays for Russian gas rose to $264 per 1,000 cubic meters in the first quarter of 2011 compared with $252 in the fourth quarter of 2010.
