ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) — Russia's gas price for Ukraine in the second quarter of 2016 will stand at under $180 per 1,000 cubic meters, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Friday.
"It [the gas price] is lower than $180," Novak told reporters.
Earlier on Friday, Ukraine’s Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Volodymyr Demchyshyn told Sputnik that Kiev is willing to buy Russian gas at rates considerably lower than $180 per 1,000 cubic meters, claiming that the market rate for gas is below prices set by the Russian gas giant Gazprom.
On Thursday, the Russian government's quarterly discount for Ukraine of $17.77 per 1,000 cubic meters expired, with the end of first quarter price amounting to $212 per 1,000 cubic meters. The discount had been provided as part of the winter package agreed on by Russia, Ukraine and the European Union.
The same day, Naftogaz said that it had no plans to resume purchases of natural gas from Russia's energy giant Gazprom from April 1 but will continue to ensure uninterrupted transit of Russian gas to European consumers.
In October 2015, the energy company said that the country was stopping gas purchases from Gazprom, and any decision to continue to import gas from this supplier would depend on prices.
