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Russia-Ukraine gas dispute

No economic obstacles for Ukraine’s purchases of Russian gas — Russian minister

Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that Naftogas either has no money or wants to aggravate the situation

© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, July 17. /TASS/. Russia has created all conditions for Ukraine to buy Russian gas and to inject it into underground storage facilities, there are no economic obstacles for it, Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters.

"All necessary conditions for buying and injecting gas have been created for Ukraine. The fact that they are not pumping gas now is not an economic issue. That is because Naftogas has no money or because they want to aggravate the situation," - he said.

The minister underscored that the two countries are not obliged to sign any additional protocols for the implementation of the current contracts on purchases of Russian gas by Ukraine and its transit to Europe.

"For the implementation of contracts on gas transit and delivery the protocols Ukraine and the EU insist on are not required. All necessary conditions for gas purchase and pumping are there, a competitive price has been set. New protocols are not required," - the minister said.

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TASS reported earlier Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree setting forth the customs duty for Ukraine during the next quarter, contemplating the gas discount of $40 per 1,000 square meters in the third quarter of 2015.

The gas price for Ukraine will total $247.18 per 1,000 cubic meters in the third quarter of 2015, corresponding to the price in the second quarter.

On June 30, Ukraine said it stopped buying Russian gas.

Ukraine should start injecting gas to underground storage facilities in August

The minister noted that Ukraine should start injecting gas to underground storage facilities in August to ensure comfortable autumn-winter period.

"If Ukraine does not start gas injection in August, there is a high risk that they won’t be able to inject required 19 bln cubic meters, the risks of autumn-winter period are technical risks, they /Ukraine -TASS/ just physically won’t be able to pump so much gas," - he said.

The minister said that now Ukraine’s underground storage facilities store about 12.5 bln cubic meters of gas. Under the contract, Ukraine can buy up to 114 mln cubic meters of gas per day from. That means that it will take about two months to pump the required volume of gas.

Earlier TASS reported that to ensure a comfortable autumn-winter period and the transit of Russian gas to Europe in winter Ukraine should have at least 19 bln cubic meters of gas in its underground storage facilities.

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