MOSCOW, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Russia's Gazprom said on Monday that market gas price for Ukraine should amount to $418 per 1,000 cubic metres -- more than double the current price paid -- from Jan. 1 if the two countries switch to market terms in gas trade.
“In the case of switching to market, European prices, the price for Ukraine should amount to $418 per 1,000 cubic metres,” Gazprom’s press-service quoted the firm’s chief executive officer Alexei Miller as saying during the talks with Ukrainian officials in Moscow.
Ukraine currently pays $179 per 1,000 cubic metres. Top officials from both nations are meeting to resolve Ukraine’s $2.1 billion in debts for gas received and to negotiate a new contract for future supplies.
Ukraine President Victor Yushchenko and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin talked for nearly an hour today, but the discussions ended with no agreement.
