More for flow: Russia ups gas prices
Russia plans gas price hike
Ukrainian state gas company Naftogaz said today it could pay more for Russian gas in the first quarter of next year, raising prices to $305-306 per 1000 cubic metres from $208.12 in the current quarter.
The exact price would be determined at the beginning of next year, a Naftogaz official told Reuters.
Meanwhile, Belarus will also see a 12% increase in Russian gas to $168 per 1000 cubic metres in the first quarter 2010, Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom said today.
Belarus enjoys the largest discount on Russian gas in the region, paying $150 per 1000 cubic metres of gas in 2009 on average.
After the break-up of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin used cheap gas as a means to curry favour with its former Soviet neighbours, but in recent years has started to move prices closer to those charged to Western Europe.
