KIEV, Ukraine, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Ukraine is ready to take its dispute with Russian energy company Gazprom to the international courts unless a solution is found, the prime minister said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said high natural gas prices charged by Russia coupled with inflation present challenges for the Ukrainian economy.
"We have coped with it so far," he was quoted by the National News Agency of Ukraine as saying. "Hopefully, we will also do next year."
Ukrainian officials recently issued a budget outline for 2012 that includes natural gas prices at their current rate, about $400 per 1,000 cubic meters. The 2009 deal requires Ukraine to import no less than 1.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas per year.
Azarov was in Moscow last week to put more impetus behind efforts to revise the natural gas deal. Gazprom, however, warned Ukrainian officials not to expect anything before the end of the year.
He said in response that he was ready to go to the international courts unless both sides can find a mutual agreement to the gas issue.
"Ukraine is ready to consider our dispute at the international arbitration but we expect that if the strategic partners fail to achieve mutual understanding, then such opportunity remains the only option for us," he said.
