If Ukraine had alternatives to natural gas supplies its negotiation process with Russia could be easier, Economic Development and Trade Minister of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has said.
"I think that the more sources that could ensure supplies of gas from the spot market to Ukraine we have, the easier the negotiation process with our strategic partner Russia will be," he told reporters on Wednesday, while commenting on a possibility of gas exports from Germany to Ukraine.
In early April, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Valeriy Khoroshkovsky said that Ukraine has made progress in talks on the diversification of gas supplies to the country.
"I can only confirm that these negotiations are being conducted. Partly, they’re already successful, so we’ll have other sources of gas supplies," he said.
The head of National JSC Naftogaz Ukrainy, Yevhen Bakulin, announced in mid-March about negotiations for purchasing up to 10 bcm in gas. Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Minister Yuriy Boiko also announced plans for summer 2012 to purchase gas on European spot markets.
Market experts say the country would be able to buy up to 20 bcm per year on European spot markets and import the gas through Slovakia starting in 2015 or 2016.
