You're reading: Ukraine hopes for Russia gas deal ‘outside court’

MOSCOW, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Ukraine, which wants to negotiate a cut in the contracted amount and price of its natural gas imports from Russia, hopes to find a solution without having to go to court for arbitration, Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko said on Monday.

The comments followed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich’s statement last week that Kiev will take the issue to the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal if Russia does not offer a better deal on natural gas supply.

Ukraine, hit by an economic crisis, is asking Russia to review a gas contract struck in 2009 and says the price is too high. The contract says the two sides should go to international arbitration to solve disagreements.

The negotiation is being followed closely in the European Union as 80 percent of Russia’s gas exports to the EU flow through pipelines across Ukrainian soil and such disagreements have led in the past to supply disruptions.

Yanukovich said the court should be "the last authority".

"As to the Stockholm arbitration, there is one group of people which is always interested in court action — lawyers," Gryshchenko said at a news conference.

"We shall probably do everything possible to make their life easier and find a natural decision in the bilateral format.. We hope that we will find a solution in the near future."

"I totally agree," his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov said.

Kiev says it wants to reduce both the import price and volume of gas to be bought by Ukraine. It hopes to cut imports to 27 billion cubic metres in 2012 from about 40 billion in 2011.

Ukraine is paying $354 for 1,000 cubic metres (tcm) of Russian gas in the third quarter and it expects that the price will rise to about $400 in the fourth quarter.

Ukraine paid an average $228 per tcm in 2009.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said this weekend that Kiev would do all it could to prevent any repetition of the past disruptions of gas transit to Europe.

Russia is set to launch the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany along the seabed of the Baltic Sea in October, which will redirect about 20 billion cubic metres of gas currently shipped to Europe via Ukraine, which is paid for transit.

Last year 95.4 billion cubic metres of Russian gas crossed Ukraine into Europe, and at current rates analysts estimate that Ukraine stands to lose $700 million if Russia cuts 20 bcm.