MOSCOW, September 30 (RIA Novosti) - New Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov said Friday Russia was his country's main partner. Yekhanurov, who paid his first foreign visit to Moscow, met with President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. "Russia is our main partner and we clearly understand this," he told Putin.
Yekhanurov, approved in the post last week, is seen as more close to Russia than the previous, pro-Western premier Yuliya Tymoshenko.
During the meeting with Fradkov, the Ukrainian prime minister focused on the supply and transportation of natural gas.
"We had candid exchange of views, and we will continue working on the issue," Yekhanurov said.
Kiev hopes to maintain the terms of the current bilateral agreement under which Ukraine buys natural gas from Russia at $50 per thousand cubic meters when it is pumped through its territory. European countries, however, pay Russia more than $100 per thousand cubic meters.
Moscow wants to replace the current gas-for-transit scheme for cash payments and make Ukraine pay the European price, which is expected to reach $160 in 2006.
"We agreed and instructed corresponding structures in both countries to intensify this work," Fradkov told a news conference after talks with Yekhanurov. "But these issues demand further detailed discussion."
Fradkov also said the Common Economic Space (CES) that unites Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan would have great potential if it were properly organized.
"We need to organize the work in the right way, using the potential of the post-Soviet area," Fradkov said. "We need to occupy a deserving place in the global economy and it would be faster and easier to do so together," Fradkov added.
Up to now, Kiev has said it was ready only for a limited participation in CES.
