KIEV, Ukraine, July 23 (UPI) -- Gazprom and Ukraine agreed on the pricing of natural gas supplies for the next year with a gradual increase to market prices, the Ukrainian prime minister said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Wednesday following a meeting with Gazprom chief Alexei Miller that the two parties had agreed to a compromise on pricing, Russia Today reported.
Russian gas supplier Gazprom had told Ukraine it may double the price of gas to nearly $400 per thousand cubic meters starting in 2009.
Tymoshenko said a final pricing deal will depend on Gazprom talks with Central Asian suppliers. Gazprom said its Central Asian suppliers plan to increase their prices soon.
The prime minister has been in disputes with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. She says the president is behind "tricks" regarding the Odessa-Brody crude oil pipeline, a pipeline meant to reduce Russian energy dependence.
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine recently moved to extend the Odessa-Brody line to the central Polish city of Plock to deliver Caspian oil to the region while avoiding Russian territory.
