MOSCOW, June 22 (RIA Novosti) - The price Ukraine pays for Russian natural gas will be discussed during the Russian-Ukrainian economic committee session in October in Ukraine, the Ukrainian prime minister said Friday.
Last October the two countries signed a gas deal for this year to supply 55 billion cubic meters of Central Asian gas from Russia to Ukraine at a price of $130 per 1,000 cubic meters. The supplies are expected to cover the country's full gas needs.
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who is currently on a working visit in Moscow, said this question as well as the other issues would be decided in a working regime as Russia and Ukraine are shifting to long-term planning to find solutions to various issues.
In the first ten months of 2006, bilateral trade between the two countries hit $20 billion, up 19% against the same period last year. Fuel and energy remains a key sphere for economic cooperation. For Russia Ukraine is a key country for oil and gas transits to Europe. Russia pumps 15% of its oil exports and over 80% of gas through Ukraine.
