Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko Friday hailed a new gas deal with Russia, saying that the gas issue has been settled without harming the national interests of Ukraine.
Ukraine's state gas company Naftogaz and Russia's Gazprom Thursday signed a deal that detailed supply volumes and prices for2008, resolving a gas row between the two countries.
"From the moment we sign this agreement, all instability on the gas market will disappear," Tymoshenko told a news conference in Kiev.
Tymoshenko said that Ukraine would receive gas in 2008 at 179.50 US dollars per thousand cubic meters.
The prime minister claimed as a victory Gazprom's agreement to cut out middlemen in the gas trade -- one of her chief complaints -- ending years of opaque schemes that have caused tensions.
Tymoshenko said Ukraine will not increase the tariff for the transit of Russian natural gas to Europe in 2008, but it plans to charge higher fees for the use of gas storage facilities.
Tymoshenko also said Ukraine is seeking a long-term agreement on gas supplies from Russia's Gazprom.
"We would like to have strategic relations with Gazprom, so that our contracts with Gazprom could last three, five, or if possible, 10 years, in which prices would be forecast and the balance of supply be stable," Tymoshenko added.
Naftogaz Board Chairman Oleh Dubyna said at the press conference that the agreement will come into effect only after the Ukrainian cabinet approves it.
Tymoshenko, in turn, said that the cabinet is to consider the agreement between Naftogaz and Gazprom at a cabinet meeting scheduled for March 19.
Russian Gazprom reduced gas supplies to Ukraine last week in a debt dispute as the two countries slid toward a new energy war that put Europe on alert.
Source: Xinhua
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