BERLIN, June 04. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia's Gazprom and Naftogaz are holding gas talks in Berlin at the level of CEOs, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said.

On Monday, June 2, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told ITAR-TASS that Russia and Ukraine had agreed not to refer the gas row to an arbitration tribunal in Stockholm.

“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 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.

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.

Ukrainian parliament-appointed Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Yuriy Prodan said earlier in the day that gas talks between Ukraine and Russia would be held on a bilateral level.

“Naftogaz and Gazprom are holding talks in Berlin. This is Russia’s proposal,” he said.

Ukraine proposed Russia to return to a discount gas price of $268.5 per 1,000 cubic metres. This price was effective in the first quarter of 2014, he said.

“Ukraine said at the talks that the gas price should reach $268.5 per 1,000 cubic metres. Today the talks will continue,” Prodan said.

Answering a question if the gas price may reach $370 per 1,000 cubic metres, Prodan said he had heard nothing about such proposal.