KIEV (Sputnik) – At the forthcoming three-way gas talks, Ukraine wants to increase Europe-bound gas transit fees for Moscow by at least 30 percent while reducing the gas price to less than $270 per 1,000 cubic meters, the country’s energy minister said Wednesday.
“Spot market prices are currently below $270 per 1,000 cubic meters, that’s why we expect to discuss a price that will be below this level,” Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn told reporters. “I’m not ready to name the price yet, but it will definitely be less than $270.”
He said his country also aims to increase the transit price for Russia by at least 30 percent. “I think that it will be extremely difficult to negotiate this fee.”
Moscow and Kiev agreed on an interim gas supply deal in October 2014, brokered by the European Commission, to ensure deliveries for the winter period.
Russian gas supplies to Ukraine had been suspended for months over Kiev’s multibillion-dollar debt. The so-called "winter package" deal expires April 1.
