Tariffs charged for the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine are pegged to the price of gas deliveries to the Ukrainian market, and with the cancellation of the discount will rise automatically and net the country real cash money, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said during a Russia 24 television broadcast.
Gazprom paid for the current transit of gas through Ukraine in advance. And if previous transit rates are factored in, the current "advance suffices until the end of 2014, and the timeframe is decreasing," Miller said. "Ukraine will in the near future be receiving real money for the transit of Russian gas to Europe," he said.
There is a problem with collecting payment for gas within Ukraine, meaning that settlement with Gazprom is a systemic problem, carries over from month to month, and will not be resolved with one-off financial injections such as credits issued by Russia, Miller said.
Ukraine is ready to buy Russian natural gas at $268 per 1,000 cubic meters, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said.
Russian Prime Minister has announced the cancellation of the zero customs export duty on gas for Ukraine. The gas price for Ukraine would now be $485 per thousand cubic meters.
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