Ukraine, Russia hold last-ditch gas talks before deadline
(Adds resumption of talks)
KIEV, June 15 (Reuters) - Ukraine and Russia made a last-ditch attempt to reach a deal in a gas pricing dispute on Sunday, hours before a deadline for Kiev to pay a $1.95 billion debt or have its gas supplies cut off.
A spokeswoman for the Ukrainian energy ministry said talks had resumed in Kiev but gave no details.
Russia and Ukraine disagree how much Kiev should pay for the natural gas it receives from Russia and Russian state-owned natural gas producer Gazprom plans to switch to an advance payment system if Kiev does not start paying its bills.
The deadline is 0600 GMT on Monday, after which Russia has threatened to halt supplies to Ukraine.
This could in turn disrupt the gas flow to the European Union, which gets some of its imports via Ukraine, but prospects for a breakthrough have been hit by political tensions and clashes between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists.And at the Moscow Times, usually pretty reliable, I can't tell if this is spin or not or whether it even matters:
The talks, which are being mediated by the European Commission, had been expected to resume on Sunday morning following a failure to secure a breakthrough at a meeting on Saturday, but began hours later. The reason for the delay was not immediately clear....MORE
Jun. 15 2014 22:33 Last edited 22:33
Ukraine Getting Upper Hand Over Russia in Gas Diplomacy
While the threat of shutting off gas deliveries remains Russia's main bargaining chip in its price dispute with Ukraine, Kiev continues to score political points by digging its heels in at the negotiating table.
Ukraine and Russia once again failed to agree on a price for future gas deliveries during talks in Kiev that lasted until midnight on Saturday, casting doubts over the sides' ability to get the job done at a sixth round of negotiations on Sunday.
Russia has said it will switch Ukraine to prepayment for gas supplies starting from Monday morning if they cannot cut a deal and if Kiev does not pay $1.9 billion in gas debts to Russian energy giant Gazprom before the deadline. However, it remains to be seen whether Moscow will stick to its guns or move the date back, which has already happened several times over the course of the talks.
The dispute erupted in April when Moscow raised the gas price for Kiev to $485 per 1,000 cubic meters — well above last year's average price for European customers of $370 — in response to the ousting of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Yet a combination of Ukraine's refusal to pay and the protracted nature of the talks has managed to bring the price down.
Ukraine initially said it wanted to pay just $268 per 1,000 cubic meters and abolish the take-or-pay agreement obliging it to pay for a certain amount of gas whether it is used or not, a position supported by Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller on Thursday responded by labeling Ukraine's demands “blatant blackmail, absurd, ultimatum-like and unconstructive.”...MORE
Local Time = GMT + 4:00 (Standard Time)
Monday, 16 June
0:16:57 a.m(GMT + 4:00)
Previously:
Gazprom to Halt Gas Flows to Ukraine if No Payment by Monday-CEO
0:16:57 a.m(GMT + 4:00)
Previously:
Gazprom to Halt Gas Flows to Ukraine if No Payment by Monday-CEO
