Russia hikes Ukraine gas prices by 30% ahead of NATO talks
Moscow/Brussels (Alliance News) – Russia is raising gas prices for neighbouring Ukraine by 30%, the head of energy giant Gazprom said Tuesday, hours before NATO foreign ministers were set to consider further action in response to the crisis in the region.
The international community has been outraged by Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and the ensuing pressure it has been accused of applying on its neighbour.
Ukraine depends on Russia for more than half of its gas imports. Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller justified the cancellation of a Ukrainian discount and the ensuing price hike by pointing to 1.7 billion dollars in bills that have gone unpaid by Kyiv.
The price for gas deliveries to Ukraine will immediately revert back to an old tariff of 385.5 dollars per 1,000 cubic metres, Miller was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
Cash-strapped Ukraine is expected to boost its domestic gas prices by 50% on May 1. It has also turned to the EU for help, seeking an agreement that would allow Hungary, Poland and Slovakia to provide it with gas.
Russia and Ukraine have had a number of energy disputes over the years, most famously in January 2006, when Russian gas was cut off completely for a few days. The cut-off led to lower supplies in Europe because much of Russian gas exports run through Ukraine.
Moscow has in the past been accused of using the prices for its gas deliveries as a tool for political pressure. Gazprom is majority-owned by the Russian state.
The Gazprom announcement came a day after Russia eased fears that it could take over more Ukrainian territory, by announcing that it will withdraw a battalion of several hundred troops near the border.
The US and European countries have repeatedly called for Russia to pull back the some 4,000 troops amassed at the border, as a first step to de-escalate the situation.
NATO foreign ministers will review the situation on Tuesday afternoon, at the start of a two-day meeting in Brussels.
They are expected to meet with Ukrainian acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deschytsya and hear from their US counterpart, Secretary of State John Kerry, on talks he has held with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The NATO ministers will consider how to further assist Ukraine, but also how to reassure its eastern-most member countries, which feel threatened by Moscow’s actions, diplomats said.
The military alliance has curtailed its interactions with Russian officials over the developments in Crimea. The ministers could consider further moves to turn up the heat on Moscow, although final decisions were not immediately expected, according to the diplomats.
NATO has already stepped up its air policing programme for Baltic member countries, with Germany expected to announce an extra contribution.
“What has happened … has challenged euro-Atlantic security in a way that euro-Atlantic security has not been challenged in the post-Cold War period,” a senior NATO official noted on the condition of anonymity. “We cannot conduct business as usual.”
Copyright dpa
