UNIAN
An agreement on new terms and prices for Russian gas deliveries to Ukraine is expected to be signed by the middle of April, according to the statement of Ukraine’s Minister of Energy and the Coal Industry Volodymyr Demchyshyn.
"The decision [on gas purchases] has been executed from a technical point of view and, I think, will be signed on April 13-14," the minister said, adding that Kyiv hopes to "sign an agreement that will be valid until the summer of 2016."
Earlier, the minister stated that starting from April 1 Ukraine was suspending purchases of Russian gas in view of expiration of the so-called "winter" package, under which Ukraine resumed imports of Russia gas from November 1, 2014.
On March 20, there was another round of negotiations in Brussels on the terms and price of Russian gas for Ukraine within the framework of the so-called "summer package" to be valid from April 1, 2015. The talks were held in the format of Ukraine, the EU and Russia at the level of energy ministers and with the participation of the European Commissioner for Energy. The parties agreed that the terms of the "winter package" have been fully executed, and the terms of the "summer package" will become the subject of discussions of expert groups.
Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, the European Commission’s spokesperson for Climate Action and Energy, said when speaking to journalists that the EC expects that the next trilateral meeting between Ukraine, Russia and the EU on gas issues take place by the end of April.