MOSCOW, Mar 5 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich hopes to persuade Moscow to cut gas prices gas by a third in return for a 33 percent stake in a future consortium managing Ukraine's pipeline system.
Yanukovich, inaugurated last week, comes to Russia days after his first foreign trip as head of state to Brussels, where he pledged to keep Ukraine on the reform path and ensure it remained a reliable gas transit route.
"We are open for cooperation and are ready to create a consortium based on equal rights to manage the Ukraine’s pipeline system, with Russia getting a share of 33 percent," Kommersant business daily reported on Friday, citing an official in Yanukovich’s close circle.
The Ukrainian constitution bans privatisation of the pipeline network and Yanukovich has earlier insisted the infrastructure would not be sold, merely managed by a consortium.
"The basic price of $450 per one thousand cubic metres for Ukraine does not suit anyone in Ukraine. This price is too high and unfair…" the source said.
The Kremlin on Thursday said Ukraine should stick to existing gas deals with Russia, drawing a line on a divisive issue expected to be a key theme during Yanukovich’s visit.
Russia has decided to build North Stream and South Stream — pipelines that would bypass Ukraine, delivering gas to Europe via the Baltic and Black Seas, and drastically cutting Kiev’s transit revenues. (Reporting by Dmitry Sergeyev; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
