Updated 8:17 p.m. Moscow Time
BERLIN, September 26 (RIA Novosti) – Russia could grant Ukraine a $100 gas price discount under the existing contract between Russia's gas giant Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftogaz, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Friday.
"This temporary price could be established on the basis of the current contract, with the granting of a discount from the current price; and this discount could amount to $100 for a period of six months," Novak said following another round of EU-brokered talks on the gas issue held by Russia and Ukraine in Berlin.
According to Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan, Kiev is ready to consider $385 per 1,000 cubic meters as part of a temporary "winter package" proposal, although Kiev insists on a fair price for Russian gas supplies at $268.
Gas price has been a stumbling block in the long-running gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine.
Gazprom and Naftogaz signed the current 10-year supply contract back in 2009. Ukraine had received two discounts that brought the price gas down to $268 per thousand cubic meters.
Russia gave Kiev the first discount in 2010, in return for permission to use naval facilities in Crimea until 2042. The second discount went into effect in December of 2013 following negotiations between former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After Yanukovych was ousted in February and Crimea rejoined Russia in March, Gazprom canceled both discounts, and the gas price rose to $485 per 1,000 cubic meters.
In June, Moscow introduced a prepayment system of gas deliveries to Ukraine due to Kiev's gas debt, estimated at $5.3 billion.
