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Russia, Ukraine not to refer gas row to arbitration tribunal - Gazprom CEO

Gas price may be reduced for Ukraine either by means of customs duties or through corrections in the price formula

BRUSSELS, June 02, /ITAR-TASS/. Russia and Ukraine have agreed not to refer the gas row to an arbitration tribunal in Stockholm, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told Rossiya 24 television.

“The sides have agreed that neither of them goes to the Stockholm Arbitration Institute,” he said. A next EU-Russia-Ukraine meeting will depend on Ukraine’s payment of its debt for November-December as well as the transfer of 500 million dollars for April-May within the framework of agreements reached in Berlin last Friday. The head of the Russian gas giant said Russia and the European Commission had a common position on the gas debt - it must be paid off.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said the gas price was not discussed at three-party talks in Brussels, as this is a subject matter of commercial negotiations. Gas price may be reduced for Ukraine either by means of customs duties or through corrections in the price formula, Miller said.

He also said that Ukraine apparently accepts Russian gas price assessment suggested by European Commission at $350-380-390 per 1,000 cubic meters. Besides, the Gazprom CEO said nobody could ban Gazprom from building the South Stream gas pipeline. Novak, for his part, said that although the issue of new transport routes for Russian gas was linked to the Ukrainian problem, they had not been discussed during the negotiations.