KALININGRAD, October 4 (RIA Novosti) - The date of the next talks on Russian gas supplies to Ukraine will be known on October 7, Russia’s Minister of Energy Aleksander Novak said in Kaliningrad.
“We agreed with the European Commission, with Mr. Oettinger [Günther Oettinger, European Commissioner for Energy] that before October 7 we would continue to agree the project of the protocol decision which was reached on September 26. On October 7, we will agree on the date of the next trilateral meeting,” Novak stated.
On September 26, Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission convened a meeting in Berlin to discuss the existing issues relating to gas. The sides discussed the “winter plan” anticipated to last until the March of the next year.
According to the plan, Ukraine must pay off the $3.1-billion debt that it has accrued towards the Russian gas supplies before Gazprom would commence supplying five billion cubic meters of gas with $385 for 1,000 cubic meters, which Ukraine will have to pay in advance.
Ukraine, however, has a number of objections to the temporary plan. Specifically, it puts forward its own plan of clearing the $3.1-billion debt and does not agree to the $100 discount that Russia has offered to the price for 1,000 cubic meters.
