Russia, Ukraine, EU to Meet on Friday for Solution to Gas Price Dispute

Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission will meet on Friday to find a solution to their gas dispute, after failing to reach a compromise on Wednesday.

Moscow said it is willing to discuss price changes and eventually waive his claim to prepayments. Kiev is expected to be open to a partial payment of its $3.5-billion debt after a renegotiation of gas prices.

Brussels proposed a solution comprising a multi-step payment procedure. Ukraine would pay $2 billion of its gas debt by May 30 and $500 million more by June 7. 

According to Gazprom’s Alexey Miller, Ukraine’s gas debt will soon total  $5.2 billion.

On the other hand, Kiev has countered that Russia owes Ukraine about $1 billion worth of gas, as a consequence of Russian annexation of Crimea.

In a paper recently released, the European Commission outlined the support package for Ukraine, saying that the European Union is intentioned to offer a support worth more that €11 billion over the coming years. The majority of the funds (up to €8 billion) would come from the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The remaining would come from the EU budget.

One of European priorities is the ‘modernisation of the Ukraine Gas Transit System and work on reverse flows, notably via Slovakia.’