Ukraine counting on direct Turkmen gas delivery starting this year, says energy minister

Ukraine is counting on direct gas deliveries from Turkmenistan starting this year, Energy and Coal Industry Minister Eduard Stavytsky said at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday.

Turkmenistan has about ten billion cubic meters of natural gas not contracted for with Russia or other countries, and that is what Ukraine is reckoning on, Stavytsky said. "Production in Turkmenistan is growing," he said. "The approximate volume for delivery through Russia amounts to around ten billion cubic meters of gas," he said, adding that negotiations are underway with Russia over the possibility of Turkmen gas transiting its territory to Ukraine. In particular, a compromise on this issue is planned in the context of a free trade area agreement. The amount of Russian natural gas Ukraine imports this year will depend on price, Stavytsky said. "Negotiations are underway on price reduction, and the volume [of gas bought from Russia] will depend on it. We are in tandem negotiating over diversified deliveries from Europe, so in the near future we will settle with our colleagues in Europe and in Russia on the amount of delivery to Ukraine," he said. As for the possible price for Ukraine on Turkmen gas, Stavytsky said that a fair price would be the spot market price less the transit component. "If we take the spot market price and deduct the transit component, then we reach a price that would be fair for Ukraine," he said.