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Slovakia offers gas deal to Kiev

Ukraine presses ahead for the opening of the Slovak route which will enable to diversify gas imports to the country

© AP/Matthias Rietschel)

KIEV, November 27. /ITAR-TASS/. The Slovak gas company Eustream has offered a gas deal to Ukraine which envisages that gas running through the Slovak territory might be possibly delivered to Ukraine, Ukrainian minister for energy and coal industry Eduard Stavitskyy told a briefing on Wednesday.

“An agreement, already signed by the Slovak side arrived in Ukraine last week. It envisages a permission to transport gas across the territory of Slovakia. The Ukrainian side will sign the agreement in the near future,” the minister said.

According to Stavytskyy, two routes might be used to supply gas to Ukraine. “Gas to be supplied to Ukraine is to run by two routes, including one which needs certain allocations to make it work. But before September 1, 2014 this gas route is to ensure supply of at least ten billion cubic meters of gas to Ukraine transported through the territory of Slovakia,” the minister said.

Ukraine presses ahead for the opening of the Slovak route which will enable to diversify gas imports to Ukraine. Kiev is not satisfied with the existing tariffs envisaged in a contract Ukraine signed with the Russian gas giant Gazprom in 2009. Therefore, Ukraine has been looking for cheaper gas imports.

Earlier, a source from the Ukrainian ministry said in the fourth quarter of 2013 the price of Russian gas would total around 410 dollars per thousand cubic meters. Taking into account the average EU tariffs for gas and the real price of “reverse flow” gas supplied to Ukraine, the price of the Russian gas for Ukraine should have been 300 dollars per thousand cubic meters, it said.

Earlier, gas had been supplied to Ukraine from the EU through Poland and Hungary with private Ukrainian structures being the main gas importers. Kiev is also making efforts to ensure gas imports from the territory of Romania as well.

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