Ukraine will not buy the amount of gas from Russia set out in a 2009 bilateral agreement which Kiev says is unfair, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said on Tuesday, setting the tone for a new round of gas price talks.
“We have clearly told them (Russia) that we are not going to buy the huge volume of gas that is set out in these enslaving contracts,” Azarov’s office quoted him as saying on a visit to the Ukrainian city of Khmelnitsky.
Azarov spoke as a fresh round of talks began in Moscow which the government hopes will lead to Moscow agreeing to cut the price of its gas supplies to Ukraine as set out in the 10-year agreement.
“It is about time we completed these talks. How much time can we spend talking? It is time to find a solution,” he said.
However, the sides announced no developments after talks between Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Boiko and Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller on Tuesday.
“The sides agreed to continue consultations and negotiations on cooperation in the gas sector,” Gazprom said in a statement.
The Kiev government earlier said it wanted to reduce Russian gas purchases to 27 billion cubic metres (bcm) this year from 40 bcm in 2011.
Gazprom has said such a reduction is impossible under the current supply deal signed in 2009. Ukraine must buy 52 bcm of gas this year, Gazprom says.
Gas price talks between Ukraine and its former Soviet master have dragged on for more than a year without tangible result.
Moscow says it will reduce the price only if Gazprom gets a stake in the Ukrainian pipeline network which tranships the bulk of Russian gas bound for Europe.
Kiev has refused to do that for fear of losing leverage over its neighbour and because the move would hurt the already sagging popularity of President Viktor Yanukovich and his Party of the Regions ahead of an October 2012 parliamentary election.
Ukraine, which is paying $416 per thousand cubic metres of gas in the first quarter of this year, sees a fairer price at $250.
Previous disputes between Russia in Ukraine have briefly disrupted gas supplies to Europe, prompting both Gazprom and the European Union to look for alternative shipping routes such as the Nord Stream pipeline launched last year.
