BRATISLAVA, April 24. /ITAR-TASS/. Ukraine’s parliament-appointed Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Yuriy Prodan sees no need in three-party ministerial talks between his country, Russia and the European Union until the differences between Russian and Ukrainian economic entities are settled.

“We have received a proposal to gather somewhere - the venue has not yet been chosen - to discuss our relations,” he told ITAR-TASS on Thursday.

“However we think that before meeting to discuss problems our companies Gazprom [of Russia] and Naftogaz [of Ukraine] should reach an agreement on the gas price and supplies,” he noted. “So, it is too early to organize a ministerial meeting when there is no agreement between the companies.”

Earlier on Thursday, a representative of the press service of the European Commissioner for Energy said that Gunter Oettinger had invited Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Ukraine’s parliament-appointed Minister of Energy Yuriy Prodan to a first meeting of the three-party consultations. However, he added, the date and venue had not yet been agreed.