The amount of natural gas Ukraine has accumulated in its underground gas storage facilities are enough for it to safely negotiate its gas contracts with Russia, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko told journalists on Thursday.
“This gives us the opportunity to absolutely calmly conduct negotiations today and absolutely calmly negotiate a form of contract that would fully comply with the memorandum signed between the Ukrainian and Russian governments,” she said.
The key points of the memorandum are the conclusion of direct contracts between the Ukrainian national energy company Naftogaz Ukrainy and the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom without mediators and transition toward average European prices for gas and its transit through Ukrainian territory, she said.
“Seventeen billion cubic meters of gas is enough for us to hold such negotiations calmly and without a fuss,” she said.
