Ukraine Rejects Russian Gas Terms

Ukraine has rejected a deal to decrease the price it will pay on a disputed Russian gas debt during long-running price negotiations.

Ukraine said that an offer from Russia of a discount of $100 for every 1,000 cubic metres of gas was part of a “trap”.

Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Ukraine would not agree to any discounts within its current gas deal.

Russia and Ukraine are in talks in Brussels to try to resolve the issue.

The two countries are locked in a disagreement over a rescinded Russian gas rebate.

Ukraine wants a new gas deal based on “a contract, rather than on the basis of whether Russia likes the Ukrainian government or not”, Mr Yatsenyuk said.

Before the rebate was cancelled, Ukraine’s gas bill was heavily discounted by Russia to $268 per 1,000 cubic metres.

After the discount was withdrawn, the price went back up to $485.50 per 1,000 cubic metres, the highest in Europe.

Russia had threatened to cut off gas supplies unless Ukraine paid its gas bill, which runs into billions of dollars, by Tuesday.

However, following negotiations in Brussels, on Wednesday Russia extended the deadline until 16 June and offered the $100 discount.

via BBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza