KIEV — Ukraine has asked Gazprom to amend the formula by which it calculates the price of gas, Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz said Friday.
Naftogaz announced the proposal just days after Gazprom relaxed contract obligations for Ukraine, allowing it to buy far less gas next year as its crippled economy needs less energy.
Feuds between Kiev and Moscow over gas volumes, prices and debts have led to supply cuts to Europe, which gets a fifth of its gas from Russia via Ukraine.
“We think the formula that calculates the price of gas … could be subject to consultation and correction in order to optimize the price of gas for Ukraine,” Naftogaz chief Oleh Dubyna said in a statement.
“Until now, Naftogaz has not yet received an answer to its proposal from the side of Gazprom and is continuing the negotiating process,” he said.
Gazprom was not immediately available for comment.
Naftogaz gave no further details and did not say whether it was seeking lower prices. The price of gas for Ukraine tracks the prices of gas oil and fuel oil also used by power stations.
A bitter feud over gas prices last year led to a three-week stand off in which supplies were cut leaving hundreds of thousands of Europeans out in the cold.
Moscow and Kiev signed a 10-year deal in order to end the dispute that said Naftogaz would pay the “market price” for gas next year, calculated according to a formula. The deal — and the formula — was never made public.
Gazprom said earlier this week that the average price for Ukraine next year could be about $280 per 1,000 cubic meters against more than $228 this year. Ukraine paid just $50 per 1,000 cubic meters in 2005.
Earlier on Friday, Dubyna held a news conference and made no reference to talks with Gazprom on pricing. He said Naftogaz would pay on time for imports of 7.6 billion cubic meters of gas by the end of the year.
The November and December gas volumes bring a total this year of 27 bcm, much lower than an initially contracted 40 bcm. He also said Ukraine would buy 7 bcm in the first quarter of next year and that the price had not yet been set.
“We will settle our November and December bills on time as usual,” Dubyna then told reporters.
“I am going to celebrate New Year’s at home. And you will celebrate New Year’s at home, and the entire country will celebrate New Year’s with gas in their homes,” he added, in reference to the possibility of a New Year’s gas crisis.
Naftogaz’s purchases of gas to the end of the year indicate a bill of $1.58 billion for the company, which is ailing financially and needs constant government support. The price that it pays this quarter for gas is $208.12 per 1,000 cubic meters.
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