MOSCOW, November 29 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko denied Tuesday that Ukraine would pay for Russian natural gas supplies with military hardware.
"The defense ministries of both counties did not hold [such] talks," he said following a meeting with Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov.
The time for bartering has passed, Ivanov said, adding that no lists of Ukrainian weapons in exchange for Russian natural gas had been made.
He also said Russia would not pay European tariffs to lease the Black Sea following Russia's raising the price of natural gas. "The Black Sea Fleet's rent was established in 1997 and fixed in long-term intergovernmental agreements," Ivanov said.
For the past five years, Russia has been selling natural gas to Ukraine for $50 per 1,000 cu m against the reference price of $80. During this period, European gas prices nearly doubled.
Now the market net back price for Ukraine is estimated at $160 per 1,000 cu m. However, Ukraine has been insisting that Russian gas supplies and transit be continued on the same terms as in 2005, despite earlier top-level agreements to move to European prices and tariffs.
