MOSCOW, May 23 (RIA Novosti) - On Monday, Anatoly Kinakh, vice-premier of the Ukrainian government, offered apologies to Russian industrialists and entrepreneurs engaged in oil business in Ukraine.
"I apologize, on behalf of the country's government, for blunt statements made by some Ukrainian officials during the peak of the oil crisis," said Anatoly Kinakh at a meeting with Russian businessmen.
Kiev put the blame for the oil crisis in the republic on
Russian companies accusing them of corporate collusion and a steep rise in gasoline prices (its prices became twice as high as in Russia as a result).
In Anatoly Kinakh's words, they have found ways to resolve issues related to the regulation of the petrochemicals market.
"The Russian companies, such as Lukoil, the Tyumen Oil Company (TNK), Tatneft and others, saw how difficult it was to resolve this issue," he continued. He drew his companions' attention to the statement made by Ukraine's president Viktor Yushchenko that no non-market, administrative, forceful measures should be applied in resolving it.
"The authorities must be in constant dialogue with business on an equitable basis, not only in the crisis situation like this one," Anatoly Kinakh stressed.
In his words, "the time has come to think of a new ten-year Russian-Ukrainian agreement on oil transportation via Ukraine."
Anatoly Kinakh recalled that annually Ukraine needs 75 billion cubic meters of gas and 20-24 million tons of oil, with domestic production of about 20 billion cubic meters of gas and only 3 million tons of oil (together with gas condensate).
"Some 80% of energy resources are imported to Ukraine (mostly from Russia and also from Turkmenistan by Russian gas pipelines). In our opinion, Ukraine's energy security can be achieved through energy saving, diversification and creation of conditions for a civilized market," Anatoly Kinakh said in conclusion.
