Updated 04:40 p.m. Moscow Time
MOSCOW, September 11 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has received a proposal from the European Commission to meet for three-party gas talks also involving Ukraine, but the date and venue of the meeting remain to be set, the Russian Energy Ministry said.
"The Energy Ministry of the Russian Federation has received the European Commission"s proposal to organize a three-party meeting in Berlin on September 20 to discuss gas issues in the Russia-Ukraine-EU. At present, the date and venue of the coming meeting are still being agreed," the ministry said.
On Monday, European Commission Vice President Guenther Oettinger said that the date of the trilateral meeting of Russia, the Commission and Ukraine on gas issues would be determined by the end of this week.
On August 29, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Oettinger discussed the transit of Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine. Following the talks, Oettinger urged Ukraine to ensure the reliability of transit and to begin repaying the debt. The total debt Naftogaz owes Gazprom is $5.3 billion; 11.5 billion cubic meters of gas have not been paid for.
Russia is ready to discuss the timetable for restructuring the remaining debt if Kiev repays the November and December 2013 sum and part pays for April, May and June 2014 - a total of about $2 billion, Novak said.
Moscow and Kiev are still unable to agree on the price of Russian gas for Ukraine. Russia proposes to establish a temporary price of $385 per 1,000 cubic meters for a period pre agreed between Gazprom and Naftogaz. In turn, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that Kiev has offered Moscow two options on gas pricing that would be set at $300 per 1,000 cubic meters during the low season and $380 during the winter season, or tie the gas prices to the spot market in Europe.
