MOSCOW, Septmeber 26. /ITAR-TASS/. Ukraine may get a $100 discount for Russian gas for 6 months, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said.

“The discount on the current price is $100,” he said.

This will reduce the price of gas for Ukraine to $385 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Ukraine may pay for Russian gas from the $3.1 billion loan approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Novak said.

Experts say Ukraine may need 5-12 billion cubic meters of gas to live through winter comfortably.

Price for Russian gas

The price of $385 per 1,000 cubic metres proposed by the European Commission should be stable and not dependent on the Russian government’s decisions, Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuriy Prodan said on Friday.

He said the payment of Ukraine’s debt for previous gas supplies could be discussed only after such a price had been established. “As for gas supplies, we are receiving this gas on the terms of an advance payment in the amount of 5 billion cubic meters,” Prodan said.

Ukraine is ready to pay a debt of $3.1 billion if gas supplies are guaranteed, Prodan said on Friday. “We should come to agreement on the volume of gas supplies to Ukraine. Then we will be ready to pay this amount,” he said. Prodan said the National Bank had guaranteed the disbursement of $3.1 billion to Naftogaz of Ukraine for this purpose.