http://rt.com/business/165332-putin-gas-ukraine-discount/
Itar Tass......
BRUSSELS, June 11. /ITAR-TASS/. Gazprom did not receive a payment for gas from the Ukrainian side on June 10, and Russia is ready to wait for Ukraine to settle it to June 16, Russia’s Minister of Energy Alexander Novak told reporters on Wednesday.
Ukraine is not ready to pay for natural gas delivered by Russia until a new gas price deal is reached, Ukrainian parliament-appointed Energy and Coal Minister Yuriy Prodan said.
Ukraine’s demand for gas price below $385 leads to deadlock - Putin
Russia has offered Ukraine a final gas price of $385 per 1,000 cubic meters, and if Kiev continues to ask for a lower price, rapport between the two countries will fall apart, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday.
“We believe our proposals offered more than a partnership aimed to support the Ukrainian economy during its difficult period when it was in need. But if our proposals are rejected, then we move into a completely different stage, it’s not our choice,” Putin said at a meeting with government officials.
The price has now been set at $385 per thousand cubic meters, $100 less than the previous $485 price Moscow set but more than the $268.50 price Kiev demanded.
“Gazprom has offered its Ukrainian partners the exact same conditions that the government had under Viktor Yanukovich - a $100 discount on the contract price, with a final price of $385 per thousand cubic meters,” Putin said.
"Gas price for Ukraine in the $ 385 would be acceptable, and Russia can still provide discounts depending on volume," EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said.
Kiev is still unsatisfied with Moscow's offer and said it will take the appeal to an arbitration court in Stockholm, Ukraine's Energy Minister Yury Prodan said. Prodan stressed Stockholm is the only way to settle the matter. Ukraine is still hoping to negotiate an interim gas price, which would be in place before the Stockholm hearing.
Russia is ready to give Ukraine this $100 discount for one year, Russia’s Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak said at the meeting.
The new discount will make deliveries to Ukraine free of export tariffs.
Novak said that Moscow is willing to recalculate Kiev’s massive gas debts for April and May, which will bump their arrears down from $2.353 billion instead of $3 billion. The first tranche payment of $500 million is due June 16, and the remaining $1.8 billion is due on June 26, Novak said.
Setting deadlines
In order to avoid future gas disputes, Putin called on his ministers to set a time period for Ukraine’s gas discount to last long-term.
“I would ask the government, the prime minister, to think about how your departments can work with the government of Ukraine to set these conditions and make them reliable and not change over time,” Putin said at the meeting.
In response, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev promised the government will start preparing long-term discount proposals.
Even though Kiev has twice missed its debt deadline, Gazprom has not introduced a gas pre-payment scheme just yet, as Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller extended the deadline to 9:00am Moscow Time on June 16.
Moscow has threatened to turn off gas supplies, if Kiev doesn't pay its massive $4.5 billion gas debt – a step Gazprom took in 2006 and 2009.
Russia and Ukraine have held a series of talks, led Oettinger, to find a solution before Gazprom is forced to cut off gas supplies to Ukraine, which would have adverse effects across Europe. Gas stability in Europe is completely up to Russia, Prodan said on Wednesday.
So far trilateral talks have been inconclusive, but negotiations will continue, according to Novak. Oettinger says that Putin and Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko plan to start gas talks today.
Kiev has repeatedly said any price above $268 is too high and politically motivated, while Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned gas producer, points out it is similar to European client rates.
In 2013, Yanukovich’s last year as president, Ukraine paid $413.50 per 1,000 cubic meters for natural gas. In December 2013, Yanukovich secured a deal with Russia to pay $268.50 per 1,000 cubic meters for the first 3 months of 2014. In April, Gazprom cancelled the $100 Kharkov Agreement discount, and the price eventually rose to $485 per 1,000 cubic meters.
Itar Tass......
Ukraine accumulates over 13 bcm of gas in underground storage facilities — Ukrainian PM
June 11, 13:03 UTC+4
Palriament-appointed Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says at least 18.5 cubic meters of gas will be enough for the autumn and winter heating season
Palriament-appointed Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says at least 18.5 cubic meters of gas will be enough for the autumn and winter heating season
KIEV, June 11. /ITAR-TASS/. Ukraine has accumulated 13.4 billion cubic meters of gas in its underground storage facilities, Ukraine’s parliament-appointed Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said.
“At least 18.5 cubic meters of gas will be enough for the autumn and winter heating season,” Yatsenyuk told the government session on Wednesday.
Ukraine and Russia continue talks on the revision of the gas price in the contract on gas supplies.
Ukraine is a transit country for Russian gas exports to Europe, and Ukrainian crisis can hamper gas supplies to European consumers. In order to avoid supply disruption, the consultations within the Russia-Ukraine-European Commission format were started in May.
The throughput capacity of the Ukrainian gas transportation is 288 billion cubic meters system at the entrance and 178.5 billion cubic meters at the exit, including 142.5 billion cubic meters to European countries and 3.5 billion cubic meters to Moldova.
Ukraine’s gas transportation system consists of 72 compressor stations, 110 production shops and 1,451 gas distribution stations. The overall length of gas pipelines operated by the company is 38,600 kilometers, including 22,200 kilometers of trunk pipelines and 16,400 kilometers of extensions.
Russia prepared to wait for Ukrainian gas payment till June 16
June 11, 12:03 UTC+4
Ukrainian parliament-appointed Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Yuriy Prodan has said that Ukraine will discuss payments after an agreement on the gas price is reached
Ukrainian parliament-appointed Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Yuriy Prodan has said that Ukraine will discuss payments after an agreement on the gas price is reached
Russia has postponed introduction of a prepayment for Ukraine to 10:00 Moscow time on June 10, Gazprom’s CEO Aleksei Miller said following his meeting with the EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger.
“Bilateral consultations between the European Commission and the Russian delegation have finished in Brussels,” he said. “The Russian side has made a step forward to continue constructive negotiations. We shall not introduce the prepayment regime till 10 a.m. tomorrow, we have postponed it to 10 a.m. next Monday (June 16).
Gas payment delay
“No, we are generally not ready,” Prodan said in response to a journalists’ question about Ukraine’s preparedness to make the next payment for Russia’s natural gas.
Prodan arrived in Brussels on Wednesday for the fifth round of gas talks resuming between Russia and Ukraine with the EU’s mediation on the price of Russia’s natural gas for its western neighbor, the repayment of Ukraine’s gas debt to Gazprom and the cost of gas transit to Europe across the Ukrainian territory.
Prodan said Ukraine would discuss payments only after reaching an agreement on the price of Russian natural gas as part of a package deal.
“As soon as an agreement on the gas price is reached, we’ll present an explicit schedule of payments,” Prodan said.
The undisputed part of Ukraine’s debt for November-December 2013 stands at $1.451 billion. Ukraine’s debts for gas supplies in April and May 2014, which are also the subject of negotiations in the three-party Russia-Ukraine-EU format, stand at about $3 billion. Gazprom so far expects to receive $500 million from this amount.
BRUSSELS, June 11. /ITAR-TASS/. The Russia-Ukraine talks with the EU’s mediation on the price of natural gas for Ukraine have good chances of success, Russia’s Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said on Wednesday.
The fifth round of the three-party gas talks resumes at 9.30 am Brussels time on Wednesday. The talks will be preceded by bilateral consultations of the European Commission with Russia and Ukraine.
According to preliminary information, the talks will focus on the repayment of Ukraine’s gas debt to Russia, the price of Russian natural gas and the cost of gas transit to Europe via Ukraine.
The previous round of tripartite talks was held in Brussels on June 2. They were attended by Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, European Commissioner for Energy Guenther Oettinger, as well as Ukrainian parliament-appointed Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Yuriy Prodan. The talks focused on Ukraine’s debt. The parties agreed not to suspend gas supplies till the next round of tripartite consultations.
http://rt.com/news/eastern-ukraine-army-operation-680/
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called on fighters to lay down their arms as the crisis deepens, with dozens dead, hundreds wounded and tens of thousands of refugees. In the last few days, 20,000 people have crossed the border into Russia.
Wednesday, June 11
10:11 GMT:
The Public Health Ministry of Ukraine has released the latest data on victims of the “counter-terrorist operation” in eastern regions of the country, reported RIA Novosti, quoting the Ukraine National News agency.
Official statistics claim that 210 people, among them 19 children, died in the special operation by the Ukrainian government against the federalist insurgents in the Lugansk and Donetsk Regions.
“Over 50 people died yesterday in both the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions,” stated Health Minister Oleg Musiy. The minister particularly stressed that his data is based solely on statistics from hospitals and morgues.
The minister also did not mention whether the stats include both civilian and military losses.
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