MOSCOW--Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that
Moscow will extend a discount on natural gas supplied to Ukraine by
three months, Interfax news agency reported.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in a meeting with
Mr. Putin that the extension was subject to Ukraine complying with
the conditions of the contract and paying off its debt.
OAO Gazprom's (GAZP.RS) chief executive, Alexei Miller, said
Monday that his company was seeking approval from Moscow to provide
Ukraine with a discount on natural-gas prices for three months
beginning April 1. Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas company,
Naftogaz, said earlier on Monday that it had sent a letter to
Gazprom seeking to extend the discount package to the end of winter
next year.
On March 20, Russia and Ukraine restarted talks over gas
supplies as a temporary deal that gave Ukraine a discount was due
to run out at the end of March. The talks are being mediated by the
European Union, which receives around a quarter of its gas imports
from Russia--with around half of that amount coming via Ukraine.
Ukraine has said that Russia's gas prices are too high.
The temporary deal was struck between Russia and Ukraine in
October, ensuring Russian gas was transited to the EU without
interruption and Ukraine received supplies during the cold winter
months.
Write to Olga Razumovskaya at olga.razumovskaya@wsj.com
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