Ukraine Ready to Pay European Price for Russian Gas Without Transit Fees

Kiev is willing to pay an average European price for Russian natural gas deliveries, but it should not include transit fees, Ukrainian Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn said Tuesday.

KIEV (Sputnik) — Demchyshyn also said that the proposed price of $250 per 1,000 cubic meters was "unfair."

"We believe that $250 is not a market price," the minister told reporters in Kiev.

"We are willing to pay the European market price, but it cannot include transit, because you [Russia] must pay us for the transit to the western borders instead," he stressed.

Demchyshyn said he anticipated another round of trilateral talks on Russian gas supplies to Ukraine with the European Commission this or next week, adding that he expected a decision on the winter package to be made.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and European Commission Vice President on Energy Union Maros Sefcovic met in Vienna late last week. The sides agreed on a series of key conditions for winter package deliveries to Ukraine, including a discount for two consecutive quarters.

Ukraine's Deputy Energy Minister Olexandr Svetelik told RIA Novosti earlier this week that Kiev was satisfied with the conditions for Russian gas supplies, which it suspended for the period July-September, despite Moscow's discount proposal. Reverse flows from Slovakia, Hungary and Poland currently supply Ukraine's gas needs.

Kiev expects to receive a foreign loan for winter gas supplies by late October, which Novak had said would help finance 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Ukraine's underground storage facilities this and next month.