Low-price gas for Ukraine if it joins Customs Union – Naryshkin
19:13
Russian State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin has confirmed that the price of gas for Ukraine will be the same as for Russian consumers if it joins the Customs Union.
“Speaking of gas prices, export duties on energy carriers inside the Customs Union will be cancelled, which means that the price for all [Customs Union] member states will be the same as for consumers inside the Russian Federation,” Naryshkin said in his speech at the Kyiv Diplomatic Academy on Monday.
Naryshkin is in Kyiv on his first working trip to Ukraine since taking over as State Duma Speaker.
The Customs Union currently comprises Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Naryshkin emphasized that joining or not joining the Customs Union is “a sovereign matter for any country”.
Neither Russia, nor Kazakhstan, nor Belarus are pressing any of the countries into joining the Customs Union, he said.
The “integration effect” for the Customs Union’s current “troika” may reach an estimated $900 billion over 20 years.
“And if Ukraine joins in, the effect will be $1.1 trillion,” Naryshkin said.
20.02.2012
Open all references in tabs: [1 – 5]