KIEV, October 11 (RIA Novosti) - The natural gas price for Ukraine's population will be 339 hryvnias (about $68) per 1,000 cubic meters, the country's prime minister said Wednesday.
Ukraine, which produces 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually, and consumes some 78 billion cubic meters, currently imports a mixture of Russian and Turkmen gas. The price formula is based on a European rate of $230 per 1,000 cubic meters for Russian gas, and $60 per 1,000 cubic meters for the Central Asian republic's gas.
"The price for the population will be 339 hryvnias," Viktor Yanukovych said, opening a government meeting. "For us it's a matter of principle that the price for self-produced gas should be objective."
In July 2006, gas prices for Ukraine's population were raised to $81-88 per 1,000 cubic meters, from $44-48 per 1,000 cubic meters.
"We have to normalize the situation with Ukraine's own [gas] production, so that Naftogaz manages national resources and the population uses them," Yanukovych said.
"Imported gas will be used in industry and to provide for a small part of the population's needs," he said, adding that the increase in gas production and the allocation of state funds for energy saving technologies are the government's policy priorities.
Russia, which holds the world's largest reserves of natural gas, is Ukraine's main gas supplier. The issue of gas deliveries became vital this year following a price row in January, when Russian energy giant Gazprom raised gas prices to world market levels and cut off supplies to its ex-Soviet neighbor. It later accused Ukraine of siphoning off Europe-bound transit gas.
