Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has described Russia's proposed price for next year's gas supplies as 'unacceptable'. The Russian gas monopoly Gazprom has offered to sell gas to Kyiv in 2009 at USD 250 per 1,000 cubic meters -- a 40 percent increase.
While the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called the proposed price a "humanitarian gesture," President Yushchenko said Wednesday that the offer was unacceptable if the transit prices were not raised, AFP quoted a presidential aide as saying.
Moscow believes that Kyiv would be paying USD 380 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters, should it buy gas at market price. Ukraine currently pays USD 179.5.
Gazprom had earlier warned that gas supplies to Ukraine would be halted on January 1 if a new contract was not signed by midnight Wednesday.
According to Gazprom's deputy chairman Alexander Medvedev, Ukraine's state-run energy company, NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy, notified the Russian side that it couldn't guarantee shipments to Europe if Russian gas is halted.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday warned that Ukraine, which is the main transit route for Russian gas exports, would face "severe consequences" should the transit to Europe be disrupted.
Kyiv, meanwhile, rejected Medvedev's remarks, saying "transportation of Russian gas to Europe was guaranteed".
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Topic: Ukraine rejects Russia's gas offer (Read 443 times)