Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftogaz will succeed in reaching a mutually beneficial agreement, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.
"I hope that they (the companies' management) manage to find such ways of cooperation thtat would be beneficial, transparent and correct from a legal point of view for both Ukraine and the Russian Federation," Medvedev told journalists.
"The goal is fixed - it is to work out a mutually beneficial scheme of gas cooperation for years, I hope they manage to achieve it," Medvedev said.
Ukraine seeks to alter the terms of the 2009 gas deal it signed with Russia that ties the price of gas to oil prices, which have risen steeply since then, causing Ukraine's energy bill to balloon.
Kiev insists on a reduction in both the price and the volume of imports.
The contract says Ukraine must import no less than 33 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia. Ukraine is set to pay about $400 per thousand cubic meters of imported Russian gas in the fourth quarter of this year.
In August, Medvedev said Ukraine would receive a discounted price if it joined the Russian-led Customs Union or made an attractive offer to sell its gas pipeline system. However, Ukraine has balked at becoming a full member in the Customs Union, which would prevent it from signing a free trade agreement with the EU. It has offered to cooperate in a special 3-plus-1 format, but Russia rejects that idea.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ukrainian Social Policy Minister Serhiy Tyhypko said Kiev could move closer to the Customs Union if the European Union blocks its association agreement with Ukraine.
Medvedev said there are no hard and fast deadlines for Ukraine to enter the Customs Union, but Moscow wants Ukraine as a full member.
"I told Yanukovych frankly about that. Certainly, joining the Customs Union, the European Union or any other union on special terms is impossible," Medvedev said.
